


Cereus

by lilacnightmares



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Western, Banter, Chance Meetings, Cowboy Saeran, Cowboys & Cowgirls, Eventual Romance, Flirting, Found Family, Friendship, Guns, Hurt/Comfort, Mystery, Non-Graphic Violence, Not Beta Read, Other, POV Alternating, Reader is gender neutral, Reader-Insert
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-03-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 23:01:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 29,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29054046
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lilacnightmares/pseuds/lilacnightmares
Summary: You never knew what you wanted to do with your life from day one. It just seemed like there were too many things to pick from and all you knew was that you didn't want to be bound by the expectations of your parents. So, you decide to head west like the rest of those that are seeking new lives and changes without knowing what to expect or your plan. You just never thought that you would find yourself ensnared in the rope of fate on your journey to find yourself.Cowboy Saeran x Reader
Relationships: Choi Saeran/Main Character, Choi Saeran/Reader
Comments: 61
Kudos: 41





	1. Chapter 1

Every child has a dream that they wish to follow and chase like the winding landscape you witness when you ride a train for the first time. You feel like you’re rushing against the tracks trying to see the sights and sounds but you can’t quite seem the find your destination as the world passes you by so quickly. 

It always felt like that. 

The world was passing you by and you were moving too fast to figure out what it was that you wanted to hold onto. So, throwing caution to the wind, you told your family one day that you were going to go and find your dream. It was expected that you stay in your little town, get married, and spend your life trying to do what your parents had. 

It wasn’t the dream that you had for yourself if you were honest about it.

You wanted to travel and see the sights as far as the starlight could glimmer and show you the rest of the world. Even though they weren’t happy about it, they let you leave home as long as you promised them you would write every few months when you got the chance. There was never a second thought that came to mind after that. 

You spent your savings on a ticket that would take you deeper into the wiles of the west. That was the land of opportunity. You couldn’t afford to pay your way to the other side of the territory but you were downright determined to get as far west as you could before you’d take up odd jobs to get you the rest of the way.

It was simply what everyone was doing at the time, hunting for a better life and chasing the stars and winding landscapes to see something different. You had no goal in sight for what you wanted to do as you had always envisioned traveling and seeing the places written down in your books or parchment as the country grew around you. 

Granted, it was ridiculous for some people to believe that you went more or less empty-handed on your own to start a new life, but hey, if you weren’t willing to take risks, how would you ever follow your old heart and dreams? Well, you would find your dream along the way. It wasn’t like you were chasing the whispers of gold and fortune. 

You wanted to see the world, not get caught up in the greed of mankind of all things. Ironically, of course, that was where you found yourself once the train arrived at the final station that your ticket would take you to. The heat of the morning sun was much brighter against the hard dirt than you had expected but the landscape was different than you’d imagined. 

As a child, you’d seen sprawling green forests and waterways not far from your house, but here in the middle of the mountains? There was nothing but red and orange as far as the eye could see. The tiny glimmer of water was a surprise to you but there always had to a river or two to sustain the lives of the people that had come to make their profit spin around and around. It was no surprise to you to see the crowds of miners and workers that littered the streets. 

They were planning on hitting it big and nothing was going to stop them. If your parents had known that you were going to head straight for a den of hungry lions, they wouldn’t have let you leave. But, hey, you were an adult now and they couldn’t stop you from traveling as you pleased anymore since they had no control over you. 

A little white lie never hurt anyone, right? 

Your naivety and faith in others were palpable but you weren’t going to let yourself let fears stop you from trying to exist. Now that you were here, you decidedly needed to locate the place that your friend was currently employed. Hyun was from the same town as you and he had left you behind just as he’d escaped from his parents.

You understood why he ran away when they attempted to force him to go into more studies to make him become a lawyer. 

It wasn’t what he wanted to do. He was an actor, he wanted to play on the stage and become someone of popular culture. He had big dreams and you admired him for it. He’d often spent many years showcasing that talent in the church choir. Though, he’d always told you that he thought that you sounded far superior to even his talent.

You assumed that he was doing that to make you feel better, that was for sure. He offered to get you a job at the same place that he’d taken residence for the last couple of years. As far as you knew, he was working deep in a bar for a kind man. 

Someone that had seen him when he was down on his luck and offered room and board for him to take up while he worked hard to achieve his dreams. He’d often told you that there were a lot of interesting patrons to the bar that either got on his nerves or convinced him that he would never let money go to his head. Something about someone with old money that tested his nerves had always gotten a chuckle out of you. 

It seemed exciting to not know what was going to be around the corner. A life of normalcy wasn’t exactly what you had in mind for yourself, and daring to explore the unknown just seemed to be a good idea. You let yourself breathe in the burnt air from life and existence before you nodded, stepping off of the train and following along with the memory of the letter that Hyun had given you in his last letter. 

These shantytowns just seemed to be appearing overnight in most places but this place was a hub for many of the surrounding areas. Everyone in this area turned looked to the man that had been here for the longest time thus far, and that was a title gifted to the mayor of this town. You couldn’t quite pull his name to your memory at the moment, but you had heard that he was a family man and that he had spent a long time trying to maintain the area as a haven for anyone that desired to chase the dream of gold. 

There were whispers when you were younger of these towns, where outlaws and crooks made their money by stealing from anyone that came to follow their dream. As for an average man that was willing to toil away in the mountains and riverbeds to find the smallest slivers of gold, they were lucky if they had enough money to eat. 

It sounded less like aspiration and more like a fever dream that everyone had collectively had. 

At least, that’s the way that your town had told you the story. As far as you could tell, it was a town like any other town that you’d seen in your travels. People living their lives without a care in the world to be had. There were plenty of houses and stores located within the center of town and the signs of families, not just men hounding for dreams. 

Perhaps, those were just the warnings that they told children the same way that you’d always been warned never to trust strangers. _Hah_! Preposterous. The world was never as dangerous as everyone tried to paint it and you knew that that had to be the case. This calmness hadn’t been what you had expected to find but you were happy to know that your friend was somewhere nice.

You’d been worried for him ever since he left. 

But, if this was all that there was to discover, he’d been luckier than you thought. Paying no mind to the world around you, it didn’t take long to find that bar that he spoke of. Well, okay, it did take an hour and a half to discern that Zen was horrible at drawing maps and you would have been halfway to another territory if he made you anymore maps like this. 

Someone kindly pointed you in the right direction after you bit your tongue and decidedly to ask a local. The worn wood of this building held the charm of something that had been there for years as opposed to being there for less than a couple of years at most. 

No eyes immediately shifted in your direction as you sauntered inside, and you took a seat at the bar where a blond boy was working behind the counter. He didn’t appear to be much older than you were, though, maybe a year younger than you if you were going to wager a guess. He did have somewhat of a baby-face that reminded you of a little brother type. 

“Hey,” you beamed. 

He offered you a smile which you returned. Perhaps he noticed that glimmer of a good mood in your eyes and decided to return it. 

“I haven’t seen you around before,” he offered, friendly as anyone could be. You assumed that they often got travelers coming in and out, but you got used to seeing regulars when you stayed in one place like this for a while. “Did you just arrive in town today?”

“Yeah,” you propped your head against your palm as you caught sight of white hair behind the curtain not far away. “Believe it or not, I’m here to meet with Hyun. He said that this would be the best place to find him once I got into town.” 

Confusion flickered in his eyes before his answer dawned on him, he put two-and-two together as he nodded. “Oh! You mean Zen,” he said, automatically. “You must be [Y/N[. He’s been talking about you for a while now. We weren’t sure if you existed or not with how he talks about how kind you are.” 

You chuckled, “Has he been acting like a raging narcissist again? I told him that while I thought it was charming, it may not attract the attention that he wants. Glad to see he hasn’t lost his charm after he left home.”

“Is that what you call it?” 

“Well, it’s a nice way to describe it, haha.” 

The two of you shared a laugh. It was nice to see friendly faces and you weren’t upset about that. It was nice to know that you were starting from rock bottom in trying to establish yourself here for the time being. Knowing that you could fall back on old friends and new, settled some of your nerves as they’d dared to fizzle to the surface. 

He offered you a drink and shared his name, “Well, it’s nice to meet you, then. I’m Yoosung. V isn’t here right now but it’s nice to know that I’ll have some help back here on the counter because Zen is kind of… well, his talents are used elsewhere to bring in the money and crowd. Oh, right, Zen probably mention it but V is the owner of this place. He’s usually away on business but we keep things running.” 

You cocked your head. What did he mean by that? You assumed that Zen was working behind the counter and serving drinks to the customers just the same as anyone else had. The confusion that was written on your face was easily wiped away when you paused to take a drink from your glass and you nearly spat it out right after. 

Oh, Zen was _the talent_. 

And by talent, that meant that he was scantly clad in clothes that you hadn’t expected him to be wearing when you met him again. Yet, there he was, shirt unbuttoned and frills trailing down his side from the flowing fabric. It looked like a seamless blend of masculine and feminine styles but it did work for him by all accounts. You weren’t into him like that, but you could see why people would want to come and fawn over him. 

It was that dashing smile of his. 

“This one’s for you, darling,” he pointed at you with a coy grin. 

He was like your brother, so, you couldn’t contain the fit of giggles that threatened to escape your mouth when he winked in your direction. Oh, so by bringing the crowds, he meant that he was there to be the eye candy and bring him anyone willing to get a drink or spend their money on being able to chat with him. 

Well, he knew how to use his looks against others.

If they wanted to fawn over him then he’d make sure that they came for what they paid for, at least, that’s what you figured as you noted how easy it was for him to ensnare guests. He had the women giggling and the men hanging on his every word. 

What a charmer, though, you could never forget that guy that avoided cats like his life depended on it—

Even going as far as hiding behind you to stay away from the strays. 

By the time his little show was over, you couldn’t stop yourself from clapping him on the shoulder and scolding him for not giving you a warning. “Zen, _huh_? You got yourself a pretty little stage name and I can’t believe you didn’t tell me you were playing the role of a floozy. The last time I saw you, you were trying to climb a tree to avoid that stray.” 

“Did you try to climb a tree to avoid a cat, Zen?” Yoosung eyed from the side. “I know you try to avoid when Jumin brings Elizabeth to the lounge but—” 

“Don’t even mention that furball,” he scolded both of you. It was obvious that he was holding back his allergy at the mention of cats. “And, if it meant that I was going to avoid dealing with a breakout then I would climb any tree, babe.” 

“I had to help him out of the tree, don’t let him convince you otherwise,” you said to Yoosung, offering him a chuckle. Turning your attention back to Zen, you shook away the shock of this new reality as it’d washed over you. “Either way, I’m really happy to see you again. It’s been too long since I’ve been able to talk to you properly.” 

“I am sorry about that, babe,” he said with an apologetic smile. “Work is busy and when I’m not here, I’m working with the theater troupe. So, time tends to get away from me when I’m caught up. I figure offerin’ you the spare room at my place more than makes up for some of that. After all, I couldn’t leave you to fend for yourself out here.”

“My hero,” you feigned the role of a damsel. “I hope you can keep your promises better than you can draw a map. I got turned around on the way over here. It took me a good hour to figure out what you had drawn because you confused cacti for a blatant mirage in the desert. I spent ten minutes trying to find something that didn’t exist.” 

“Hey, hey, hey, I’ve got my talents. My face is just meant for the stage, not for paper.” 

“I’ll say.” 

He snorted at your comeback. That was how it had always been with him. It felt like no time had passed with your friend. It was going to be interesting from now on. “Either way, why don’t I go ahead and help you guys out? I’d rather get to work than laze around Zen’s place for the rest of the day like a log.” 

“Just try not to get too distracted by me, babe,” Zen warned with a laugh. You nudged him away and sent him back to wait for his next little show. “Alright, alright. I’ll leave you with our Yoosung. Take good care of them for me while I’m on the floor.” 

Honestly, you were going to scold him later for being so great at putting up a face of glamour. It was too easy for him to sway others. He’d found a line of work for him that would help him as he chased the stage and after the dreams, he’d had when he was a young boy. You wondered if you would be able to find yours somewhere in this new town. 

“I’d appreciate it,” Yoosung said. “Ever since Jaehee started working with Jumin, oh, she was our other performer before you came here, and Jumin’s V’s best friend, they’ll probably be around tomorrow if they finished their work trip. They’re a part of our regular visitors, so you’ll get to know them well too.” 

“I’d hope so,” you smiled. “I’d be happy to make some new friends. After all, all I have right now is Zen and I’m severely lacking in that department. Honestly, we should trade a story about how embarrassing he must be to watch. Sound like a deal, Yoosung?” 

“Haha, sure thing. I’d like to have the upper hand for once when he teases me.” 

“Don’t worry, I’ve got plenty of stories, then.” 

You stashed your bags behind the counter and helped the boys with the afternoon crowd without too much trouble. You had worked at your family’s bakery so it wasn’t much of a stretch for you to settle into the buzz of human travel and needs. 

It was easy for Yoosung to show you the ropes.

You just needed a few tips on the workaround but apart from that, it was easy to deal with anyone and their desires. Zen claimed that your good looks helped, but he said that was what worked the most around here. Morale was pretty low and people came to the saloons to get a reprieve from their heavy days with the charm of the staff. 

You were starting to understand why he wanted you for the job. His claim that your shining faith in others and willingness to avoid thinking the worst in others was a good fit for someone that was to bring in the money by delighting patrons. Well, you felt a _little_ used, but it wasn’t so bad. It was better than being back home where you would know your future. 

A path that you didn’t want. 

You’d gladly accept doing this for the time being. 

By the end of your shift, Zen had to part ways with you as he had to meet up with his group, but he gave you explicit directions to his house so you wouldn’t get turned around this time. The sun had already set by that point so he warned you to be careful and not talk to anyone on your way back to his place. You waved away those concerns. 

What were you supposed to be scared of? 

_A couple of cacti?_

You’d seen no sign of any outlaws or criminals. Frankly, you were starting to believe it was a tall tale. Everyone that you’d spoken to in the saloon had been nothing but kind to you as you shared their drinks with them and chatted about your travels. It seemed like any other town. 

That mayor must have taken the law seriously because these streets were clean.

Zen was just paranoid over nothing. He’d always done that. So, you followed the dusty path that led you deeper down those streets into an area that was a bit more desolate but not too far from the town entirely. Though, you paused just for a moment as you felt a strange sensation wash over you. You glanced over your shoulder but nobody was there. 

No one was in that area at all. 

Which wasn’t right, you had just seen a few stragglers walking around when you just walked by but now there was no one. Weird, but you weren’t going to be put off by something like that. You were used to being in an area with a lot of people and this town was just a bit smaller than what you were used to, so, of course, the streets cleared quicker! 

“Heh,” you chuckled. “I told him he was worried about nothing.”

How silly of you. 

You turned back to continue on your way but as soon as you stepped away from the city limit, you were stopped by a shadow appearing from the darkness. You didn’t move from your spot, but you were quick to size up this stranger. It took all of five seconds for them to draw their weapon and for you to stare at them like a deer afraid of being prey.

“Let’s make this quick and easy,” the stranger said, simply. “Hand over whatever goods you have and I won’t have to hurt you. Don’t try screaming, either, honey. It won’t do you any good to make a ruckus for us.” 

You were still too stunned to respond clearly. You knew that you had to do something but you hadn’t ever been put in a position where your life was clearly on the line. What were you supposed to do in that situation? It wasn’t like you could say anything, and you were too caught up in the idea that your life could be over before it began—

“...!” 

A drag sighed at the lips of the villain, as his fingers hovered over the trigger. “I hate the tourists. It’s like y’all’d have a better sense than to travel alone. I don’t want to deal with the mess so make it easy on me, just hand it over. Whatever money ya’ got. C’mon, I don’t have all night. I’ve got better shit to do than watch ya’ stand there with your mouth open.” 

It wasn’t like you had a choice. 

So, you went for your pockets and pulled out the change that you did have. It wasn’t like you came here with anything more than pocket change. That didn’t seem to please him. He cursed at the little that you did have. 

This time, he lifted his gun toward you without hesitation and he cocked the trigger this time. 

Your stomach flopped. 

“That’s all ya’ got?! Change?! I should kill ya’ for putting me through the trouble! I can’t believe it, if yer’ hangin’ around that floozy, you should have way more cash on ya’,” the malice in his voice let you know how serious this was. “Or, since ya’ can’t pay me this way, why don’t we figure out another way I can get somethin’ outta’ ya’.” 

Suddenly, you found the use of your voice, “Wait, please.” 

“That’s not how it works around here, darlin’. If ya’ can’t pay with your cash, then ya’ can pay with your—”

Suddenly, a shot rang out and you sank to the ground, shutting your eyes and waiting for the pain to hit you but… it never did. Breathing heavily, you opened your eyes and realized that the gun that the crook had been holding had been shot from his hands and sent colliding with the dirt. The man let out a cry as the blood poured from his wound. 

Someone shot him. 

Somebody shot him which mean that there were more people around—

The smart thing to do would be to get up and run but your legs felt like jello. You were frozen in place from either the shock or the fear of everything that was happening far too fast for you to comprehend everything. The crook gripped his injured hand, “The hell’s out there? Show yerself’! Ya’ can’t shoot me and get away with it. We’re all tryin’ to survive out here. Less you’re the sheriff, get off my ass about this. This pretty little thing was going’ pay me what I’m due.” 

“You ain’t due nothing,” a voice spoke up from your left as it taunted the crook. You looked up at who would be your savior, noting the dark color of his slacks and the deep brown of his boots that had seen better days. A black shirt and a faded mint vest that nearly appeared to be white. His scarf covered too much of his features to reveal his face to you. The black duster he was wearing was long. Protection from dust and dirt. 

Yet, you saw red hair peaking underneath that hat, and that’s what caught your eye the most. If you had recalled correctly, at the train station, there’d been a wall of wanted criminals that you’d paid no mind to except for a passing glance. 

But you remembered seeing someone with red hair on the paper and that told you that you may not be safe. He might have picked off this lower thug to take your money himself. 

You saw the crook’s eyes widened as he realized who he was staring at, and even if you didn’t know him, he knew the guy. 

“Now, are we going to have trouble here or am I going to have to get rid of you for real? I already had to waste a bullet on your hand, but I sure as hell ain’t opposed to wasting one more in your head if that’s what I need to do,” the redhead said, plainly. “You fucking know that this isn’t your territory and I can remember giving you a clear warning the last time that if I saw ya’ again, I’d make you regret it. So, I’ll give you five seconds to get the fuck out of here before I decide to make good on that promise.”

“But—” 

“Five… four… three…” 

“Shit. I’m outta here! I’m goin’, I’m going!” 

“Two…” 

The thug was already long out of your sightline by the second that this stranger uttered the word: “One,” but that didn’t stop him by watching the skyline closely and keeping his gun cocked without a word. You remembered that you needed to breathe again, and now you could feel that dread filling in your guts once more. 

You weren’t one to think that everyone you met was a bad guy, no, you wanted to give people the benefit of a doubt but how could you trust anyone if they were willing to go in without hesitation with their guns like that? Whatever happened to talking things through? You could haggle with someone all day but not if they wanted blood. 

Looking up at this man, you realized that he was now staring at you. You weren’t trying to get on the bad-side of anyone tonight. Not after that. The flimsy knife that you kept stashed on you wasn’t going to do much against a gun. So, you decided to play it straight instead. “Um, thank you,” you managed to say. 

He held out his hand and you reluctantly took it. 

“You shouldn’t be walkin’ around alone,” he said. 

“A little late for that kind of advice, sir,” you replied once you were back on two legs. You winced at your tone and tried to forgive yourself for being panicked. “But, thank you. I thought I was a goner. If you hadn’t come along when you did…”

“Make no mistake, I wasn’t doing it for praise. I told that idiot that if he set foot on this territory and got in my way, I’d have his head,” he stashed the gun back in his holster and for that, you were grateful enough. “Make this your first lesson, don’t walk alone at night unless you’ve got a weapon on you or unless you’re willing to beg for your life with your money or body. Crooks like that won’t hesitate to rob you blind and leave you for the vultures, pretty little cereus.” 

Cereus?

You weren’t about to go walking around without Zen around if you had the choice if there were crooks like that around here. But, if there were guys like… well, he seemed willing to help others. Even if it was a selfish order on top. The adrenaline was still running hot in your veins. You could feel yourself talking without thinking. 

“So… this is your territory?”

“It will be,” he said, flatly. 

“Then, can I ask why you aren’t trying to take my money, too?” 

He snorted at your response. It seemed funny to him that you jumped to that. “Y’know, not every criminal wants to rob someone that has dirt to their name. You have a few measly pennies. The fuck am I gonna do with that? It’s a waste of my fuckin’ time to bother with you when you ain’t got shit to pay me with. If I’m gonna waste bullets, I’m gonna hit someone worth my trouble.” 

So, he wasn’t entirely bad… it was just a good thing that he didn’t see you as a target. That was bad for anyone rich. You nodded, knowing that you weren’t going to complain to him or make a big fuss about not being robbed. You lifted your bag back from the ground and decided to risk a chance on the guy with the gun.

“I don’t suppose you’d want to walk me home, then?”

“Oh, you already owe me, do you want to add to your life debt?”

You paused, looking back at him, “Life debt?” 

“You ain’t from around here, then. If someone saves your skin then you owe them a life debt. That means you either risk your life for their life, you pay them back with money, or with secrets. It’s up to you,” he tipped his back to get a better look at you. “And, considerin’ you’re heading towards the house that belongs to one Hyun Ryu, you’d do nicely for secrets.” 

Oh, he planned that. 

He did walk you back in the direction of the house as if he already knew where he was going. You had no way of knowing if he knew Hyun or not. But, a criminal like this? He surely knew whatever he wanted. 

What could he want from you that he already didn’t know? 

That didn’t make sense. 

Then again, would anyone think much of a naive stranger who knew nothing about this life? It might be a smart plan if you were avoiding eyes. Great, you thought. You didn’t think things through again and now the only reason you were breathing was that someone wanted to use you. It could be worse, you knew that. 

You paused at the door and turned to face the wanted criminal, “So, what kind of secrets are we talking about?”

There was mischief in his eyes. Which, you noted were an odd shade of green that seemed a little too bright, almost blue. It contrasted against the intensity of his red hair and seemed to draw you in like the moon on a starless night. 

His scarf had slipped enough that you could now see his smirk as it grew wide, "You owe me, which means I won’t let you get very far from here. So, don’t go and skip town and we won’t have trouble. You seem like a good little listener, a real people pleaser, so let’s see how good that is. I’ll let you know when I need you, little cereus.”

A chill ran down your spine when he said that. Yet, something pulled you and compelled you to listen to him. 

“That’s not my name.” 

“Names don’t matter ‘round here.” 

The stranger started to walk away back in the direction that he came from and you couldn’t stop yourself from asking one more question: “Do I at least get to know your name, sir? If you even have one, then.”

Without missing a beat, you could hear him say, “They call me plenty of things, little cereus, but if you want to get down to the knitty gritty, all they’ve ever been able to get out of their mouths before they realize they’re dead is—Unknown. I ain’t got a name that anyone needs to know but myself. So, call me that and I’ll call you Cereus.” 


	2. Chapter 2

There was nothing that you could do to change the situation at hand. A life debt to someone that you’d only seen on a poster deemed you useful enough to keep you around. It didn’t seem like he was going to hurt you or anything, but he did want to gain something from your position working with Zen and the others. 

It wasn’t as peaceful here as the mayor wanted to paint it out to be, but you had no way of discerning what the hell was going on underneath the surface. 

A few days passed without hearing or receiving a word from Unknown. It almost felt like it had been a dream in the first place, but you knew that it wasn’t. Those haunting eyes of his had been very real and you knew it. You decided it was better to focus on your work at hand and worry about the details when it happened. 

He said that he would be in contact with you as soon as he wanted to be. But, you had no way of knowing when that could be. The debt had to be repaid and you knew that he would only become satisfied when his goal was achieved. That next morning, you had gone to check out those wanted posters to get a better insight into who he was. 

And low and behold, you’d seen those eyes painted on parchment. 

Not just his, there were plenty of other criminals listed there with different bounties on their heads ranging from a few hundred dollars to even higher than that. He was one of the higher marks on the paper and that dignified him as a dangerous man. His crimes consisted of theft and robbery but in comparison to the would-be murderers, it seemed like he was just great at getting money. 

Well, the rich were always angry when someone was willing to take their money from them. He’d mentioned that you hadn’t been worth the trouble which meant that he only bothered with people who had too much money in their hands. That was likely why they wanted to find him before he’d gotten to everyone in the area. 

He wasn’t the only one that you needed to look out for, though. 

There were plenty of other faces and descriptions of crooks and criminals. Though, most of the drawings only showed eyes or the wisp of hair underneath the billow of a hat. A pair of golden eyes caught your attention as well, the same reasons listed on his chart as Unknown.

It must have been common to go after those with the most money for the ticket. Though, it’d struck you as a bit odd to see anyone only willing to steal from the top dogs. Most people were just desperate to get their hands on enough to survive or to thrive on their lust for gold. There must have been more to it than that, right? 

You had no way of ignoring it, but you knew that it was better not to get overwhelmed with thinking about the little things when you didn’t have answers of your own. So, you spend your time getting all settled into your new job because it was the focus of your day. It wasn’t all that hard for you to get behind the counter and keep up with your tasks. 

Yoosung appreciated the reprieve from his job and he had more time to get things done without getting overwhelmed. He’d told you that he planned to leave this town someday to further his study in school but he didn’t have the money to travel as far as he wanted to go so he’d been stuck here at the bar for the time being. 

His cousin had gotten him the job in the first place as she’d been in a relationship with Jihyun Kim before she passed away. You heard that she’d caught one of those diseases that nobody had any sort of explanation for, an intense fever and delirium before she ultimately grew too weak to function. She’d be the opposite of Zen on the stage in the old days. 

She’d wasted away day by day until she couldn’t come in anymore. 

That’d been some time ago but it’d been tough on all of them. Her passing was the reason that Zen reached out to you in the first place, they needed to have someone else to take care of things. He’d regretted to inform you that it’d been sooner or later before you’d joined him on stage. 

Not only did she work the bar but she’d been the center starlight for the entire bar from day one. Her eyes and voice… everything about her had given reassurance to the people, and without that, morale had dwindled greatly. Yoosung looked up to her dearly and you understood that he was still having a hard time with his grief. 

You felt for him and did offer your condolences. 

You being there was kind of a reminder that his cousin wasn’t around anymore, but he didn’t blame you for that. He seemed happy to have the company to chat with again. 

Still, your mind had been reeling from the shock of knowing that Zen wanted to throw you center stage. 

Had you been able to do so, you would have kicked your shoe at his head. 

You’d never performed in front of other people and when you did you tended to get worked up and flustered. Zen was the one that was meant for the stage. You’d always been too nervous to take that place. So, while you’d spent your time behind the counter thus far, you knew that he was going to hoist up there with him. 

Granted, for some reason, you were somehow more paranoid about some performance than owing your life to a criminal. It was funny to think about in retrospect. 

Well, never let it be said that you weren’t someone willing to question your odds in any circumstance. That woman that had left to work with Jumin Han had always worked there off and on, though not to the degree that Rika had worked there. She spent most of her time counting the books behind the bar, but Zen had been the one to urge her to try it out. 

After Rika had passed, Jaehee had taken it upon herself to do those tasks for some time out of respect for the bar and their needs but Zen mainly took care of everything. 

It was just tough without her around to pick up those crowds when there was only Zen around. That is to say, they needed more than one person around to charm and delight the patrons and you were just the lucky sap that had answered the call to action. It was okay. You weren’t too torn up about it and it was alright. You’d cross that bridge once you go there. 

Working wasn’t difficult, you set into your new routine as easily as you could. Today was just as same as the last few had been… except that it wasn’t. 

There was just this feeling in the back of your head that didn’t sit well with you. You did your best to ignore it as it danced in the back of your mind, smiling at the patrons and continuing to do your work as it was meant to be. Eyes always flickering in the direction of the door as if someone was going to show up. 

“You seem distracted today, [Y/N],” Yoosung’s comment drew you from your thoughts as you shook from your daydream. “Is something wrong?” 

“Oh? Oh, it’s nothing, Yoosung. Thanks for asking,” you waved off his concern and continued to wipe down the countertop. “I just didn’t get much sleep last night. Zen brought over a few of his friends and they were talkin’ late into the night. It sounded like fun so I got caught up in their fun. I don’t know how he functions without sleeping as he should.” 

“He’s always having a good time,” Yoosung agreed with you. He placed a glass down in front of you and you gladly took it, water was a welcomed change from the smell of alcohol. You weren’t always enthralled by the company of booze, preferring to drink anything apart from that, the familiar burn of a faded childhood memory haunting you. 

“Oh, you’re jealous?” You countered, bringing the glass to your lips as he sputtered. “You know, I’m sure that Zen would always welcome you over if that’s what ya’ want to do. Not that it’s always a party at his place, but he’s got more than enough friends to make a real celebration if he wants to throw one.”

“If my mom knew that I was going over to his place, she’d never let me hear the end of it,” was his response. The heat that burned on his face showed his embarrassment. He still lived fairly close to where his parents were and they kept up with what he did. 

Yoosung’s mother was a bit of a worrywart when it came to her only son. It showed when she kept up with him. Your parents hadn’t been like that, per se, but you understood that feeling of knowing that they’d know if you did something they didn’t like. Well… you were technically currently doing just that but it wasn’t like they could stop you. 

Still, you smiled at him reassuringly and pat his shoulders with sympathy. “It’s alright, I get it. No worries, Yoosung. You’re only missing out on seeing Zen as awake as a wildfire. It’s not as exciting as he makes it sound. I’m still tired. I don’t know how he does it.” 

“I think if I had that energy, maybe it’d be easier for me to attract someone,” he muttered. His cheeks were dusted a warmer shade. You felt for him, really, he always stared longingly at the few couples that did come into the bar, and whenever Zen got anyone to fawn over him, it was obvious that he was a bit jealous of the attention.

“Don’t worry, Yoosung, I bet you’ll find someone who admires you for who you are someday, and it’ll be for the right reason.” 

“Thanks [Y/N].”

That reassured him. Though, it seemed like nobody had ever told him that before. It seemed like a real shame. Yoosung was a nice guy. He was kind and had been showing you the ropes from the first day as best he could and you knew that when you did meet Jihyun, you’d let him know how hard that those two boys worked. 

It was harder than you’d seen your family work back home. Hours of toiling in the kitchen were far behind you as far as you had a say. Though, the skills and etiquette were paying off. You were happy to converse with the travelers and locals, to be honest. There were a lot of interesting stories to hear and talk about. So many people had seen things that you’d only dreamed of. Like, the mountains, or even the ocean. 

Winding valleys, flowers far as the eye could see, cities that held the tallest buildings, ships that knew impossible heights, and more! You wanted to see it all if you could but money was the goal and you’d have to prove yourself to get enough to coast by. You’d never run into things with a plan, anyway, you would make it up as you go. 

Your head was often in the clouds… that’s what your parents would say. Well, you’d gotten here thanks to that and there was nothing that you could do to change that fact. It was easier just to follow those clouds to wherever they were taking you. As you settled into this routine, you let yourself get used to the details of what happened every day. 

Sometimes, the same people would show up and other times strangers would arrive. Zen had made it very clear to you to be mindful of who you were talking to, and now you were taking that a lot more seriously than you had. It was hard to know for sure, but he’d let it slip in a whisper to you that this bar was neutral territory. 

Meaning, this was safe ground for anyone, and that meant anyone. 

But, it was that way because nobody was allowed to say a damn word or start a fight. Jihyun said it wasn’t meant for this space. If they wanted to fight, they had better do it in town and not in the middle of the bar where everyone was the same. A patron of the place and a guest. It was a respected rule that had been kept from years prior and it stayed that way. 

Though, it meant that any moment you could be chatting with someone not well-intended. It was a rude awakening, just as your first night in town had been. You’d been lucky to still have your head on your shoulders now. Breathing in deeply, you turned back to your tasks. 

It wasn’t long before the sound of the door opening caught your attention. 

It was just another patron. You spun around to greet the sound of someone walking towards the counter and were surprised to meet golden eyes. Golden eyes and red curls, and it almost reminded you of someone. You nearly had a moment of unease until you realized his eyes were as golden as the sun. 

What were you worked up over anyway? Anyone could have deep maroon hair. 

His gaze was curious as you stared at him, locked in eye-contact as something was being communicated between the two of you. His hand slid against the ground and you noted the bills in his hand, pressing your hand against it to take it, his lips curled upward as he said, “I think you’ll appreciate the tip, Cereus.” 

The color drained from your face but you didn’t let anyone see it. You smiled politely and stashed the note in your pocket as you tucked the bills underneath the counter. Yoosung took the time to come over and greet the guest, and by the time you lifted your head once more, you realized that the blond knew him. 

“Luciel, it’s been a while,” he said, placing a drink in front of him. His purple eyes were confused. “I thought you were off at school trying to finish your studies. There’s no way you’ve finished that fast! That’s impossible!”

There was a change in his attitude almost right away. 

He laughed, almost jovial and light-hearted compared to that deep look in his eyes. It was… like a one-eighty. 

He was wearing a red shirt that had been tanned by the sun and a dark coat slung over his shoulders now that he was out of the heat. The hat on his head was dirted with clay, and those jeans of his had seen better days. The glasses were new though since the frames seemed to be clean.

“Ya’ know me, once I get started on somethin’ it doesn’t take me a long time to get done right away! We should talk about why you’ve not headed off to school yourself yet, Yoosungie. You said that ya’d be followed right after me,” Luciel teased. He clapped Yoosung on the shoulder in a similar way that you had done before. 

Yoosung rubbed his shoulder, likely now sore from two thumps, and huffed. “I’m still getting together the money for the next semester. It’s better to be over-prepared. My mom keeps hounding me about it so that’s what I’m up to. I’m just surprised that you’re back.” 

“I’m touched you missed me,” he cooed with a chuckle. 

“It’s not like that,” Yoosung countered. He glanced back at you and realized that you hadn’t been properly introduced to this redhead. “Oh, [Y/N], this is Luciel. He was off to study on the other side of the country but I guess he’s finished now. We weren’t expecting you back for another year or two. He's such a workaholic.” 

His golden eyes met yours once again. “It is nice to meet ya’, [Y/N]. I see that you’ve taken the job up after all. Zen swore up n’ down that ya’ really existed but we never believed him. Granted, he did try to climb on the roof after I tried to show him sweet little Elly, too. I think he plays up his allergies to mess with Jumeow.” 

“Elly?” 

“Jumin’s cat,” Yoosung supplied from your side with an exasperated sigh. “Her name is Elizabeth the 3rd, though. Don’t let him catch you calling her Elly like Luciel does. I made that mistake once and I won’t live it down.” 

Something wasn’t right here. This guy knew Unknown but you didn’t know how and it didn’t appear as though the others knew. If they knew, they weren’t saying anything. This was, after all, space where anyone could come and never worry for a moment about what it meant to be on the side of the law or the other side of it. 

He wasn’t showing that same face as before, it was a friendly one now, but you’d seen the glimmer of something all too serious now to look away from the problem at hand. So, you smiled politely and let yourself laugh at his gesture. You hadn’t yet met Jumin, but it seemed like he was quite the character to be friends with. There were still so many things that you had to learn and discover about this place and the people that interacted with it. 

Luciel was gone sooner rather than later after letting Yoosung know that he’d be around soon, and to let Jihyun know that he’d been there as soon as the man returned from his trip. It left you deep in the collective thought of who this guy was. The note was itching inside of your pocket until you’d been able to step out of the bar and head in the alley. 

You unfolded the note and scanned it for a message. It was hardly anything: _‘Cereus, I need you to be my eyes. No, you will be my eyes. You asked a mighty heavy question about my intentions but I don’t intend on sharing them with you since you don’t need to know. All I need you to do is simple. Watch them. Listen to everyone that comes in and out of the bar every day._

_I’m looking for secrets, and I don’t care what you’re thinkin’ is important or not, if you hear anything that sounds interesting, write it down and place your message in the location that I’ve drawn on this map. I do hope you’re better at following instructions than you seem. — Unknown’_

Your expression fell. He expected you to work double on top of everything that you were already doing for work. You wanted to tell him off for it, but you knew that if he hadn’t saved you, you wouldn’t even be standing there in the middle of the bar. Your life would’ve ended before it ever really began to start. There was no way out of it. 

The note was tucked away as fast as you could put it out of sight. 

You had never really done this before, but he expected you to prove yourself to make the debt even. You had to do it. There was no choice, it just didn’t make sense how you were going to know for sure what was good and what wasn’t. You’d barely heard yourself think when it got busy! Shaking your head, you knew that it had to be done. 

Thus began a cycle day in and day out. 

You would smile and talk to anyone that came around and they would think nothing of you as you did your duties alongside Zen and Yoosung. You now understood that many of them thought you to be someone from the country without a thought in that head of yours. They underestimated you by far and away, chuckling whenever you turned your back to them.

A pretty face who trusted too much. 

Well, it had landed you right where they were joking about, whether they knew it or not. It was strange to pry into the lives of other people, but you did it because you had no other choice. That’s how you learned about the state of the lives of people in this town. 

There were the things that you expected, all too familiar stories of cheating on their partners, sleazy deals, conversations that made you sick to your stomach, and financial woes. That last one was a surprise to you because the town was painted out to be a place where wealth flowed. 

Many people were whispering about the well of gold had been drying up more and more when this was supposed to be a booming center for those who dreamed of tasting it. They weren’t happy about that fact, either, nobody was. It was a whisper amongst the crowd, not that it was easy to come across gold but now it seemed even harder for people. 

It was like someone was robbing them blind right underneath their noses. 

There were different theories and ideas that you noted, but most of them seemed nonsensical. Never the less, you wrote them all down in order and hid the note at the end of the day at the location that Unknown had told you to leave the messages. 

There was this locked box underneath behind a very peculiar cactus and some rocks, and every day when you returned, it would be empty, meaning that he got the note. It wasn’t often that he left you a note in return but when you did, you felt yourself wanting to read more and more. 

He would slip a few things to you now and again. 

Secrets of his own. 

Secrets that belonged to people that traversed the saloon as well. There was truly power in knowing things about other people that they didn’t want others knowing, and he had several people underneath his thumb. He recounted several of them to you, not the secrets per se, but hints that didn’t take long for you to figure out. 

He was quite brash but there was a snark to his sense of humor that drew a chuckle from your lips whenever you heard from him. This happened day in and day out over a few weeks as you worked to pay back your debt. When you weren’t focused on your duty in the bar, or working in the back with Zen to work out your routine. 

God, you were dreading that. 

You took hold of every note from Unknown and used it to empower yourself. 

_‘Pay close attention to the ones that hang on your every word. They love a pretty face and how easy it is to be treated like they’re important._

_Greed might be the biggest taste they have, but they crave that time from people like you or that Zen. I couldn’t tell you how easy it is to twist up someone like a certain man in a blue hat just by letting him have one too many drinks from a pretty server. He lets loose all his secrets._

_What a moron, all broken over a pretty face.’ —Unknown’_

_‘You were right. Three drinks over and he wouldn’t stop telling me how he had it in good with several outlaws. He’s struck a deal with the sheriff to turn in guys to make a turn-around on the mark-ups with the rewards. He gets a cut from whatever the police take from the money and they let him do whatever he wants._

_He’s even planning on falsifying reports to earn himself a couple of bucks. There are a few crimes he knows about but he’s going to lie about who did it. It’s disgusting.—Cereus’_

_‘People out here are only looking out for their best interest. Nothing more and nothing less, that is why I told you that you shouldn’t trust so innocently, Cereus. It should disgust you that these people line their pockets while the rest of society starves for even the smallest drop of water to touch against their tongue in this heat._

_Not so naïve now, are you? Now you understand why they must be controlled.—Unknown’_

_‘Controlled? I don’t know about that. I still don’t understand how you’re using them to bring these people down or whatever you want. I doubt you’ll tell me. But, I think I understand more about this place than I did before. There are so many… people here doing horrid things. I don’t understand why people are like this. It’s just money. It’s just power._

_What’s the point? What does it prove? Even hearing that this man is planning on robbing the bank blind or that someone is blackmailing another for cheating on his wife. I don’t get it.—Cereus’_

_‘You’re so innocent it’s almost cute, little Cereus. Power is the power to these people, and if you want to be able to change the world, you need to have all the cards in your hands before they do._

_To beat the monster you must be a bigger monster.—Unknown’_

_‘Are you implying that you’re the Robin Hood of this situation? Are you robbing them blindly so you can destroy them from hurting others? Is that what these secrets do?_

_Because, if that’s not the case, I don’t know how you’re any better than the men that want to hoard all of the gold like a dragon hidden in a deep cave. —Cereus’_

_‘You’re getting quite brazen with me. I don’t recall this fire in your eyes when you were relieved I saved you from the barrel of a shotgun. Tell me, you may be aware of the devils of the underbelly now but are you staying that you don’t fear them?_

_You owe me your life, little Cereus, it would do you well to watch your tongue.—Unknown’_

_‘I’m waiting to see what you do, Unknown. I want to think you’re using these secrets for good reasons but it remains to be seen. I’ll keep sending the notes along with these letters. I’m not stupid enough to disregard my debt._

_Here, a list of things that have been shared in the bar today. Tell your partner that he needs to stop distracting Yoosung Kim when he drops by, by the way. I can’t keep up with both of my jobs when I have to babysit more tasks.—Cereus’_

Weeks of notes being passed between the two of you were a constant in your life and it was only when it stopped for a few days that you started to worry about him. You weren’t sure why you did because he’s only been a thorn in your side with his notes and snark but it had been there for you since the first day. 

He made you feel ways that you’d never felt before because nobody had challenged your perspective before and kept you on your toes as he did. Dangerous, but you were already knee-deep in all of this mess. How further could you fall if you tried to understand him? 

He hadn’t hurt you. 

He’d been nothing but curt with what he wanted and that was more than what could be said about the crooks that you saw every day in the bar. You weren’t sure how Yoosung and Zen were able to handle all of this without thinking too hard about it. Maybe it stemmed from the fact that they were used to this and you weren’t.

How did you grow complacent to crime? 

When did it just stop bothering you? 

Those were the thoughts that clouded your mind as you wandered home that evening with Zen to be following after he finished up cleaning. You stopped by the cactus once more hoping to see that there would be a note, it’d been nearly a week by that point without talking to him. You crouched down and pilfered the box. 

A torn note awaited you. 

**_‘Expect me soon.—Unknown’_ **


	3. Chapter 3

There was no doubt in his mind at that point. 

Time was running out and they needed to work fast to complete their goals. It was only a matter of time until that man made his next move against them and they couldn't afford to waste any time to find out everything they needed. It was exhausting, but they had to split up to get their job done and now they were going to have to make up for the lost time. 

It wasn’t their fault these idiots were bleeding the desert dry. To control people, you had to have the money and power to back it up. Sometimes, it made them no better than the man that they were trying to take down, but at the very least, neither of them acted like they were doing the right thing to get by. 

That’s the difference, Unknown noted. Scum is scum, but at least if you have the balls to admit that you’re a bad person, that’s where the line between an honest man and a con-man met. He slid off of the horse that he’d traveled in on and leaned against the beast, knowing that it’d earned the rest after they had to make such a long round trip to get what he needed. 

He pilfered a note from his pocket and stared at the familiar hand-writing, it was yours from the last time you spoke to him, and he’d long been thinking about how strange you were. It had only been a couple of weeks but your correspondence with him had blurred between the secrets you shared and the thoughts that ran through your head.

You were an oddity, a curious wonder that belonged in a side-show act that screamed:  _ World’s Most Naive human. _ You had a mouth on you like nothing else but it only came out when you had a degree of subtle separation. 

He had his doubts that you would be able to hold up that kind of talk if he was standing in front of you again. Which,  _ he would be _ , today. So, he was going to know what would become of you and what you were doing amid his time spent away from you. The last thing he wanted to do was break his cover when they needed it, but it was high time he saw for himself what was going on. 

Your letters had become increasingly specific about the growing situations in the town, as well as how more and more of its people were starting to lose more of their findings. The more money people had in their pockets, the more likely they were to destroy and corrupt others for their gain, and in the long run, he wanted no part of that. 

No part of those that thrived on good for their pleasure. 

There were specific measures that they needed to take now that there was no sign of that damned man when they needed him. They both had a common goal in mind but they had to go their way to get things done. Hardened by years of knowing the worst of humanity, both he and his partner were on the end of their ropes to find what they needed. You were supposed to be handing him everything that he needed. That moron couldn’t get things for them. Unknown couldn’t trust his brother to do that, they both knew that no matter what Jihyun’s bar stood for. 

No matter what neutral territory meant, that didn’t mean that they were safe from corruption or the law chasing them down. If they wanted him or out, they needed distractions, and the right amount of coverings to ensure their identity wasn’t breached. People weren’t stupid enough to demand a man remove his hat or his coat around these parts. 

But, someone with specific features would draw some eyebrow if specific measures weren’t taken to make things work out. 

The letter was tucked away in his pocket when he heard the telltale sound of heavy footsteps against the dirt. He glanced over his shoulder to see that it was who he had been here waiting for. He’d been waiting too damn long out here. It had already been a close call from the night prior, knowing that he had come too close to the law catching up to him.

He only had the time to hastily leave you a warning of his arrival before he headed off back to their hideaway to piece together the next set of the puzzle. They needed Jihyun, but there was no sign of that man whatsoever, and without him, they would have to figure out how to do this on their own. There was no choice. 

Time was running out to prove what they needed. 

To prove that beasts must be dismantled with bigger beasts. 

“Took ya’ long ‘nough,” he scoffed, eyes taking in the sight of the redhead in front of him. “Where the hell were you? Don’t tell me you got distracted chasing after that damned cat again. We have important business to take care of. Why the hell you torment the strays for fun is beyond me. We can’t play waste time playin’ around.”

“Hey, it’s all well n’ fun, brother,'' Luciel shrugged. There was a bit of an amused smirk on his face as he waved his hand. “Besides, you do realize that I do that to listen in on conversations? If you play the fool, nobody will know that they’re bein’ played for a fool. You have to give me credit on that one. It’s not like you can show your face as much, baby brother.” 

“And whose fault is that?” Unknown retorted, his quirked brow narrowed as he glowered at the man with who he shared a face with. “It sure as hell ain’t mine.” 

Luciel waved off that comment. They both knew that they were talented in their ways and there was a reason why Luciel had an easier time getting what they needed using his tactics that he’d learned from their mentor. Unknown worked much better on his own when it came down to it and his twin worked better when he knew that he could slide into the room and seem just as daft as the clown that nobody listened to. 

“Cut to the chase,” he said, simply. “What have you picked up?”

“There’s still no sign of V. Nobody’s heard from him in weeks so I’m starting to wonder if something is holding him up or if something went wrong on his trip. He told me that he was going to hunt down a copy of the paperwork but without him, we’re up shit creek without a paddle. Unless you’ve got some better news for me. I managed to broker a few deals to tide us over a while longer, but we need something big to unleash the beast.” 

Luciel made no mistake of informing him of everything that he had been doing over the past while on his own. His travels had helped him get in league with plenty of wealthy people who owed him a lot in the way of debts by doing their dirty work and holding it against them. 

From this side of the country to the other, but it still wasn’t enough to give them the fire they needed. 

Money was the scourge of everything. 

Yet, you needed it to prove yourself. 

Unknown could dominate anyone and hold their secrets above their head as long as he had the right pawns underneath his fingertips, but most of them were simply seedy men that wanted a hefty amount of money for their cooperation. You were the first one in a while that owed him their life and it meant you didn’t desire his money. 

As frustrating as it was, they were going to have to change their angle on this game. It went without saying that it was more and more starting to feel like they were done to the wire. If the gold was drying up, it meant that things could get much worse for the rest of the town. They had the same goal in their minds and it had to be completed. 

There was no choice. 

That was why he had to check with you. He couldn’t simply count on your words at this point. He pulled a scarf from his bag and began to unwind it around his fingers so he could cover up much of his face. The red hair wouldn’t be a dead giveaway but his eyes would be a problem if he was not prepared to take the care of precaution.

Not that anyone would mess with him. 

They knew what would happen if they dared to try to make a move on him, but it was the sheriff that he couldn’t trust. A regular patron of the bar but always eagle-eyed. That’s why it was a good deal he made with you in the first place because it bypassed the bullshit of trying to either send his brother in or trying to do it his damn self. 

“I’ve been checkin’ on your little problem now and again, too. Nobody’s any the wiser about them, by the way,” Luciel said. “They’ve been doing everything that ya’ asked of ‘em. I ain’t been able to pop in enough to make sure but I made it pretty clear the first time.”

“Of course, they’re not,” Unknown scoffed at the thought that anyone that he employed would be stupid enough to get caught. He wasn’t going to pick someone that wasn’t going to deliver on what he wanted. “Oh, and you know what? They mentioned to me that ya’ were slackin’ on your job. I think you’re the one that needs to change his ethic. Stop flirtin’ with Yoosung Kim n’ get your tasks done.” 

Luciel sputtered in response. The nonsensical gibberish that came out of his mouth was nothing for him to care about. “I’ll have ya’ know that I do have a lover! They’re waitin’ for me to come back to ‘em after we clean this up, Yoosung’s just a friend!” 

With that, he left his twin to tend to the horses as he headed into town. It was a short walk and he needed to clear his head. His blood was still pumping from the night prior and he needed to cool his head with something before it pushed him too hard. It wasn’t the first time and it surely wouldn’t be the last time that his life was on the line.

Hopefully, you weren’t paranoid about that torn note. 

If you were, well, that silver tongue of yours was going to be put to the test today. 

—

The business was doing rather well despite it all. However, it was likely because people were coming to drown their sorrows in the bottom of a bottle. Either that or they came to unwind with a good show on the stage. 

To say that it was hard to focus was putting it lightly, as you had only just recently started to stand on that stage alongside Zen. 

It had taken a mortifying amount of time for him to show you the ropes and just how you were to beckon someone forward with a waving hand and a coaxing smile on your lips. He had deemed you ultimately worthy of standing underneath the light and against the eyes of the patrons. This was the third time that you would be changing spots with Zen. 

He would remain chatty and help serve those alongside Yoosung while you did your job. It was so easy for him but it wasn’t as easy for you. You had a nervous glint to your eyes that you could never quite hide away from others without smiling harder and putting on the mask that he’d warned you to don. It was no different than the days that you two would sing in church, so you just had to pretend the crowd was nothing more than the elderly people who would clap and cheer for anything. 

The first performance might have been nothing. It should have been nothing, but the mayor had dropped by the bar for the first time in quite a while and something about his friendly smile hadn’t sat well in your gut. The only reason that you knew it was him was the surprise that washed over Zen as he noted the man enter the bar. 

You had taken to the stage with a smile against your lips, and a familiar song coming to you as you lost yourself in the moment. He seemed like a friendly man, and by all accounts, everything that you had heard about him said that he was simply an upstanding man looking out for the best of the people in this situation. 

He was a family man, with a wife and a child, and it seemed picture perfect as far as anyone was concerned. It seemed that perhaps he wanted to relax and have a good time, but it seemed strange that he would show up for the first time at the bar after you’d spent weeks trying to work there. Maybe he had been busy? 

You weren’t sure. If those murmurs of men finding less and less shimmering gold hadn’t been enough for you, then the idea that the mayor was more caught up in trying to find a solution for something that nature controlled seemed a little odd. Well, you didn’t know what it took to be a mayor so you were perhaps overthinking it. 

In your hometown, the mayor was always too busy trying to tend to matters of the state rather than worrying about what the people were doing to make money. Though, the west was a little different than what you were used to! 

However, golden eyes had been on your back the entire time. You couldn’t disregard the feeling of someone watching you, and it wasn’t like you weren’t being watched in the bar, it was just that this sense of being watched didn’t feel the same as someone looking at you for their amusement. 

No, it felt like there was something more to it than that. 

Though, you brushed it aside, thinking yourself to be overly paranoid about something because Unknown had gotten underneath your skin. He hadn’t stopped getting under your skin about what it meant to have power. He had made you wary of every person that you had spoken to because so many of them weren’t… great people. 

It surprised you to see how many men were willing to hold your hand behind your head until you begged for mercy. It seemed disgusting, but you were willing to give him the chance to prove what was going on inside of that head of his simply because he let you live. 

Even if there were crooks and monsters around every single corner, you wanted to understand why they thought that way and why nobody seemed to have a heart anymore. 

Did the allure of power and gold taint someone so much with the saturation of sin that they become someone they were not? Or, were people just born naturally with the inclination to do bad things, and this was just bound to happen? You weren’t dumb enough to think that evil didn’t exist in this life, but you didn’t want to believe that everyone in this world could be cruel-hearted. 

You wanted to trust others and see things through to the end. 

Either way, you were working on your next performance, and it was almost time for you to take to the stage and give yourself the time to do as you were told to do. Zen reassured you that it would get easier in due time, but you had your doubts about that. 

Your stomach was in your throat every single time that you thought about it. Would it ever really get easier? 

Or, had he simply just said that because he wanted to feel better? You weren’t sure but like hell were you going to let Zen get the satisfaction of thinking that you weren’t able to do this. If he had the gall to show off like this, then you weren’t going to let him best you. As long as you channeled the thought of chasing some cats off, it would be fine. 

Taking a deep breath, you smoothed out your hair and took the few steps forward toward the curtains and for your show to begin that day. There were a lot of moments in your life recently where you wondered how you wound up in positions like this but really, you doubted you were going to find an answer anytime soon. 

Well, you were the one that said you were okay with exploring the Unknown.

_ Too bad the universe took that literally.  _

—

It was always lively this time of day. There were plenty of people in the bar that crowded the area and that made it all the easier to slip in without anyone blinking or casting a second look. Unknown knew how to get in and get out of tight spaces without anyone knowing that he was there.

That was why they called him Unknown… the ghost. The person that only existed long enough for you to wonder if what just happened to you happened. He could rob you blind and be gone before it ever occurred to you that you needed to know what he looked like. Oftentimes, they attributed his crimes to his brother or vice versa. 

It was hilarious how nobody had put two and two together, but plenty of people were sorely lacking the reasoning and deduction skills to figure that out. It wasn’t like he was trying to be buddy-buddy with his brother or anything, they both had a common goal to follow and some rocky history behind it that meant that as long as the mission was completed—

They would be able to do what had to be done next. 

Unknown could still remember when they had been ripped apart… and his blood boiled at the thought of it. It wasn’t the time to fixate on that, though. His eyes scanned across the room to see who would be lingering around today, and he wasn’t surprised to see a few of the people that he had been working on for a while now. 

He noted a few familiar faces, Yoosung Kim and Hyun Ryu being the first that he knew off the top of his head. It seemed as though Jumin Han and Jaehee Kan had returned as well. That was a surprise to him, and news to him. As far as he had heard from his sources, the two of them had been away on a bit of a lengthy business venture. 

Kang had once been a member of the saloon, herself, but upon Jumin’s realization that she had quite the talent for money and debate, he immediately took her onto his staff without missing a beat. She’d been a crafty one, with murmurs that she’d been a talented marksman before she stumbled into this bar and agreed to help Rika Kim. 

Her skill at knowing how to read others and see into their hearts had made it increasingly difficult to do things.

She may have known the unspoken rule of the bar to not say a word but she knew when someone was up to something and she’d remove them from the bar herself if she had to do so. It had been done to his brother often, even though he was able to show more of himself here. 

He wasn’t going to risk that for himself. 

Taking his seat and listening to the background hum, he noted that their transaction had gone as they had planned. Jumin Han was the son of the man who had helped to build the infrastructure of the town in the first, funding everything with his company and array of businesses that helped keep all of the needs of the people in order. 

Han’s family and company held a lot of power, but they were the only upstanding people that came from old money. It didn’t mean that they weren’t going to pay for anything, but it did mean they were the last on the shitlist. As long as they stayed in their lane, then they wouldn’t have anything to worry about. 

If they were around, that meant that Jihyun should be around. But, looking around revealed nothing of that regard. Where the hell was he? Why was it taking him forever to come back around when he was meant to be helping him? It was starting to leave a sour taste in Unknown’s mouth the longer that he thought about it. 

How could they trust him if he was avoiding them? 

His life wasn’t the one on the line. 

But, if he gave a damn like he said he did, then he should have been here a long time ago. Biting that thought and shoving it away, he focused on the other details that he needed. You weren’t wrong in what you had told him. There were signs that something wasn’t right. It had been a small whisper before but now? It was all that he could hear.

Whispers of distrust and uncertainty. 

Gold was a naturally occurring substance that was a lot harder to find than folks thought, but it shouldn’t have been as hard as it had lately. There was a lot of it here, so much that people thought that the supply would never run out as it had been years without dying down like some of the other towns that were built up and cast aside within a matter of months. 

So, things seemingly drying out when the gold well was as strong as ever? 

Something didn’t sit right with that idea. 

None of the idiots that he kept his eyes on had any idea of the outcome, so, it was likely either that things were drying up, or somebody that was not within his wring of control was making this a problem. He needed to know. If this was tied to that man… then, they needed to know. They needed to stop this. 

He clicked his tongue in distaste. It was bad enough that he had to take care of these matters with his own hands, but it was irritating to be stuck in a bar. It made his skin crawl no matter how long it had been since those years in his childhood haunted him. But, it was the price of being able to take care of the desire for freedom. 

Just as he was settling into his seat, the faintest hum of music graced his ears. He glanced back in the direction of the stage expecting to see Hyun Ryu making a quick costume change, but as it turned out the man was still sitting atop the bar, still locked in conversation with Jaehee Kang that was just far enough from him that he couldn’t pick up all of the details. Now, that struck him as odd and out of place. 

Then, he heard the sound of your voice ringing in his ears. Swiftly looking back at the stage, he was surprised to see that it was you on display today. The outfit that you were wearing took a few things away from his imagination, the skin of your shoulders and chest were much freer than they had been on the night he saved you. 

It wasn’t all that different from what Hyun Ryu would wear but for some reason—

It suited you. 

It  _ complimented  _ you. His face felt warm but he disregarded that fact. You had a job to do and this is what you were doing with that job. Your cover was still excellent in comparison to other idiots that he had worked with in the past. 

How could anyone expect a naive person to know anything about the area apart from sharing their smile and coaxing others inside?

It wasn’t a song that he heard before, but against your lips, and underneath the light of the afternoon sun that poured in from the window. Unknown never thought that he would see you in a light like this as if you were the blooming Cereus. Yet, there you were, shining on a stage as if it had been meant for you all along. 

As if in a trace, your eyes swayed across the crowd sharply until your gaze locked with his, and despite his outfit covering much of his identity, you seemed to know it is was him. You winked and broke eye contact with him not long after you’d realize it was him in the crowd of people. Well, you certainly had some gall, didn’t you?

Your performance drew the eyes of everyone in the room and really, he hadn’t seen someone capable of stealing the spotlight since that woman had once graced the stage. He had never been drawn to that star but you? You were an interesting light. You weren’t the shiniest apple in the bunch but you made sure that nothing pushed you down.

Your bite was admirable, but could you keep it?

It was over almost as soon as it started, but you kept the crowd electrified. You chatted and never missed a beat with those that called your name. He watched as you never let yourself break that character that you’d built for yourself. Seemed as though Hyun Ryu had taught you well over the last few weeks that you’d been separated. 

You’d made small talk with the patrons and made easy company with the rest of the bar, never missing a single beat as you spoke to Jumin Han and Jaehee Kang. It was admirable how you had been so skittish the first week and now you were capable of handling something strongest, but how much of that was a character, and how much of that was truly you? 

_ You, little cereus, are an enigma. _

Unknown still needed to speak with you. When you met his gaze, he gave you the signal to come and follow him. He took the short walk to the backside of the building and leaned against the dry wood under the damning heat of the sun that could only see reprieve when the clouds were willing to give the people something. 

It wasn’t often. 

He couldn’t even remember the last time that it had rained. 

You didn’t keep him waiting too much, sauntering out the back door and moving the fabric that hung by your ankles up to step down into the dirt. You looked at him, and he looked back at you. There was a faint chuckle against his lips. “Well, well, well. Heya howdy doodle doo, little Cereus. I see ya’ve gone and decided to dedicate yourself even deeper to your job here.” 

There was a bit of warmth on your face when he said that. You huffed and crossed your arms over your chest to comfort yourself. “Yeah, well, Zen neglected to tell me that this would be one of my duties at the bar. Don’t think I wanted to do it.” 

“Well, that’s a mighty shame. Looked like ya’ were havin’ a lot of fun,” he quipped. “I don’t think anyone would suspect ya’ of anything now. A pretty little singer who can’t help but trust anyone who offers them help? Yeah.” 

There was a fire within your eyes whenever he spoke, and it almost intrigued him. He wondered what it seemed like when you were reading his messages. He could assume that you bit your tongue and hit your foot against the ground like an angry rabbit. That’s what you were, cute little prey that didn’t have a clue. 

“Yeah, well, you missed a lot while you were gone doing God knows what,” you took the chance to walk a bit closer to him. You pulled at the scarf that was still pulled over his face just enough to see that his cheek was sporting an awfully large bruise. It was like someone or something had struck him. When you saw that torn note…

Well, it was obvious you feared that someone had gotten to him.

Well, well… he thought that you might be relieved if someone took him out. You’d no longer owe him a life debt. If he were dead, you would be free to do as you pleased. It wasn’t like it would transfer to one person upon his death. Your deal was with him and nobody else. Though, if you thought a hasty note was the sign of his death?

You were too cute.

“That last note had me… worried,” you admitted. You didn’t stop there, you dared to touch the bruise on his face with your hand, wiping away some of the dirt that had dirted him up when he had likely been in the breeze in the rough terrain. “I thought maybe…” 

“Was the little Cereus worried?” his voice came as a taunt. His narrowed eyes caught yours, and he took ahold of your wrist and wrenched it away from his face. “Clearly, you’ve grown complacent in the idea that I’m the good guy. I’m no good guy, ya’ ought’ to remember that.” 

You didn’t dare look away from him, but that fear that he had seen in your eyes once before was not as strong as it once was. Maybe, you had gone and grown a backbone. He liked a fight when it came from the right person. You were dangerously tempting to argue with. 

“You’ve still yet to prove to me what you are.” 

“You’d do well to trust no one.” 

“Even you?” The smallest quirk of your brow was a challenge. 

You were tempting him to bite back against him. You’d learned a thing or two and now you wanted to show off. That pride of yours was the kind of thing that got men killed. You were lucky that he was the one around here and not one of the other men that ran secret pins. 

The two of you were locked in a long battle of looking at one another, and only the sounds of your breathing could be heard at that moment. Unknown wanted to test you, to push you to your breaking point and beyond it… all because you were tempting him. Tempting him to do things and think things that he’d never thought of before. 

“You know what,” Unknown said, sharply, never looking away from you. “I think it’s high time I show you exactly what we’re doin’.” 

Now, that made you blink at him, perplexed. “What?” 

Even he wasn’t quite sure of himself, but you’d never know that from the way his sharp gaze kept on yours. “Ya’ heard me, if you want to play this dangerous game, then why don’t I show ya’ just what we’re tryin’ to do?” 

It wasn’t like you had anywhere to be. 

And, your curiosity… you were a cat that wanted to know as much as you could, and that look in your eyes told him all he needed to know. You may have been wary, but that didn’t mean that you weren’t itching for adventure. That’s what brought you here, wasn’t it? Well, he could show you things that would make your blood boil and your chest ache. 

Perhaps, then, you wouldn’t be so willing to bite back and tempt him. 

A part of him wanted to draw you in deeper because there was just something about you that made him feel like someone was listening to him without judging him. You wanted to know more because you had to know, not because you craved an abundance of power. 

“What do you say, little Cereus?”

That pure heart of yours was just lovely for the breaking, but—

How far would he twist it up after seeing you shine? 

“...Deal.” 


	4. Chapter 4

The last thing that you ever expected was to find yourself knee-deep in the middle of whatever Unknown was doing, and yet, he extended his hand towards you, and that was that. 

You couldn’t resist the temptation of being able to understand more of his mentality, nor could you help this insatiable need to know who the bad guy in this situation was. It wasn’t as cut and dry as you used to think that it was. 

But, life wasn’t like the stories that they tell you when you’re a child. 

As you had discovered, there was more to a good guy and a bad guy than what was on the surface and there was no denying that Unknown blurred the line between what you assumed to be good and evil by all accounts. He wanted to show you his goals and really, your curiosity always got the better of you in the end. He knew that you would agree with him. 

It had only been a matter of time. Regardless, you were relieved to see him show up in the bar at all after that last message from him. Whatever he had been involved in had gotten him bruised and beat up and yet, he was still firmly square on two legs. 

You couldn’t imagine what that felt like to be able to walk around after you’d gotten hurt. The few times that had an accident or two and gotten knicks and bumps hadn’t been so bad, but to get hit hard enough to bruise or show marring against your skin? Now, that was harder to imagine. 

Once, there had been a time when you nearly broke your leg trying to tend to some of the heavier tools in your family’s bakery. You hadn’t had the time to calculate what would happen if you just moved one precarious object from its casing, only managing to move out of the way at the last second and avoid a disaster that would put you down for weeks. 

The sheer jolt alone that came from nearly getting hurt had been enough to make you stay out of the kitchen for the rest of the day. Granted, you had been a child at the time and easily overwhelmed but that hadn’t changed the fact that the idea of what intense pain could feel like had you out of your wits for a while. 

It didn’t leave you as an adult scared of something dangerous happening to you out of the blue with no control over what occurred. Then again, you’d been petrified long enough for someone to pull a gun on you the first day that you’d arrived in this new territory. No matter how comforting the fact was that you had a knife hidden amongst your things could protect against a bullet. 

_The unknown only became real when faced with its reality. You may think that you’re not scared of something until the hungry lion comes looking for a snack and you’re the only one around for them to take a bite out of._

At least, that’s how Unknown described it to you before he left you earlier that afternoon. He seemed to see right through any wall that you put up, but it went without saying that you pushed back against him without a second thought. You weren’t terrified of something that you could put a face to. 

It was only the idea of something lurking in the dark that made your skin crawl the way it did. Perhaps, that’s why people were wary of him whenever they heard of his name and his crimes. The man with a strange alias, Unknown, could rob you blind and leave you guessing for hours before you realized who had turned the tables against you.

Then, there was his brother who you’d discerned to be his twin, who went by the alias Seven on all the wanted posters that you had come across. You weren’t sure how he got that name but you had a feeling that it had something to do with the fact that he could gain anyone’s trust and get them to put their guards down in less than seven seconds. 

He was also an enigma. There was no way of knowing how the two of them had come to find themselves in this life of crime, but with Unknown’s outstretched hand in front of you, you were hoping that you could figure something out.

Even if it was just one answer. 

One answer was better than nothing, and he was right when he said that you had nothing better to do with your time at this point. Apart from working, you didn’t stray too much from the safety of the bar, and there was a good reason for it. You knew that once the sun began to set, it was better to be on your guard.

You weren’t going to mistrust everyone you met, but you watched yourself underneath the cover of the moonlight. 

It was the right thing to do. Unknown would give you credit for that, at the very least, you had learned your lesson the first time. It wasn’t like people didn’t try to take advantage of your kind nature, either. Plenty of patrons in the bar thought they could get away with plenty simply because you let a few things slide.

Zen was quick to tell them otherwise, and as were you. 

Though, you were more gentle in your counters. You didn’t want to get on anyone’s bad side, you were meant to be a smiling member of the bar that nobody thought anything of. 

As far as you knew, that is the way that they see you. Unknown had commented on how great you were doing on that front since it benefited him greatly. He left you to ponder that when you went back to your shift. 

You spent a good portion of your time talking to Jaehee and getting to know her and what this place was once like. She complimented you on your performance and talent, but there was no denying that whomever Rika had been on that stage was something that would never be forgotten. 

Nobody could replace that starlight, as far as this group was concerned on the matter. 

Jaehee had been down on her luck when she stumbled into town. 

Her skill was her sharp-shooting and that often didn’t land much work for a woman in this area, nobody took her seriously until she proved just how excellent of a marksman that she was. Her work before this point had been muddy, only with the police and those in need. But, desperate times call for desperate measures. 

Rika found her one evening and took her in. 

She showed her that her skills could be used for more than what she was raised on by her aunt and uncle. Jaehee was able to share her use of her tact and communication skills to convince anyone to take her seriously. With her brains behind the counter and Rika’s beauty, it was obvious that they had the talent to make sure that anyone and everybody had a safe and good time in the bar.

It was the same story with Zen. 

Rika had found him and offered him a place to show his talents when she saw a down on his luck actor trying his best to get by. She saw him slipping closer and closer to the outlaws and knew that he had a life meant for something greater than crooks and criminals. She saved him from a dangerous path and he wound up here at Jihyun’s bar. 

The two of them helped him find his footing, gave him a place to practice, and allowed him to hone his craft before he put together a theater troupe on his own. It was admirable, he went from kicking down the doors to figuring out how to make his dreams his own thanks to someone giving him a chance when the rest of the world didn’t. 

Yoosung came to the bar to work to get ready for his studies, it was time out of his house and his parents agreed that it was honest work that would help him prepare for life on his own. It was the baby step forward to where his parents wanted him to be, but he wasn’t sure where he wanted to go. He was ready to chase school down as Luciel had, but as far as studies go, it seemed like he wasn’t sure what he wanted to do.

Rika had given him excuses and time to think about it in the bar, and that’s why he had come to admire her so much over time. 

And, the same could be said for Jumin Han, the man who was best friends with the owner of the bar that you’d yet to meet. He had been here from the start with his friend and it seemed like he was very intensely involved with keeping things running smoothly while the actual owner wasn’t around as he should’ve been. His family was old money and had funded a lot of businesses in town so it went without saying how integral he was to the group. 

The owner was still this enigma to you, Jihyun Kim, his name was just there and tossed around by the others quite often. He wasn’t around. He seemed to be taking more and more trips since Rika had got ill and passed away; many assumed that he was grieving and it was hard for him to be in the bar when it held so many memories of their relationship. 

Nobody questioned that. 

It was left out in the air. 

Yet, you had this strange feeling that there was something more to it than that. Maybe it was just a passing thought, but the fact that this place was a haven for anyone to travel in and out of made you wonder who he was aligned with. Was he truly neutral in all of this or was he aligned with another set of people?

You surely hadn’t gotten any answers from his friends. 

Yet, you worked for the rest of the day doing what you had to do and headed home late in the evening when Zen finished cleaning up. He had been itching to figure out who you’d left the building to speak to, though, and yet, you wouldn’t fess up a word on the subject. You thought he hadn’t noticed, but he was eagle-eyed, and there was no hiding that from him. 

People never suspected that he was watching… perhaps, for the very same reason that people never dared to think that you may be more than what you appear to be. Though today, you didn’t know it, there were eyes on you like there’d never been before. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that your show attracted a newer crowd to stop by. 

You just knew that it was busy. 

You couldn’t have been happier when it ended. 

“Hey, I’m just curious if this is a romantic thing,” he raised his hands in his defense. “I’m just looking out for you. I don’t want you to get into trouble because you got swept up in some pretty face, I know, I see it happen all the time. The ladies just fall for me and they’re lucky I have their best interest in my heart and look out for them. A lotta’ beasts don’t do that.” 

You snorted at his jest. “It’s alright, Zen. I can take care of myself, but I know that you’re just trying to protect me. If I think I can’t handle it on my own, I’ll let you know. You’ll always be a guard dog, you know that. Well, except when there’s a cat around. Then I gotta be your knight.” 

“Still won’t tell me if it’s about a date?” 

“Hyun, I will tell everyone about the time that you—”

“Ay, ay, you don’t need to pull out old history, {Y/N]. I get it.” 

“Hahaha… I thought so.” 

—

By the time that you were off the next evening, your brain had been swirling around with your evening plans. That wasn’t to say that you let yourself get distracted from what you had to do, but just the idea that you would be spending time with Unknown in close contact made you wonder what it was going to be like. 

It wasn’t like you knew what to expect. 

You’d never had too many friends but you weren’t sure if you would consider yourself friends with him. That is to say, while you felt like you were on more solid ground than someone that was working for him, there was still some degree of separation between you. 

Perhaps, it had something to do with the fact that his tone was always dry when he spoke to you.

Testing you, taunting you, and pushing you… it confounded you and left you reeling to find your answers but you kept walking into a wall instead of finding the doorway to the next room in front of you. It didn’t seem to matter if it was written on parchment or if he was standing in front of you, there was just something about him that made you want to act. 

Nobody had ever pulled that out of you before. 

That is to say, this feeling of wanting to gravitate towards danger. You knew better from your parents but you’d never followed along with the order of things. You always turned down the wrong path even if you knew that it would take you longer to get to where you wanted to be. Sometimes, doing things the longer way would benefit in ways that you’d never think about. 

If you were in a hurry and only took a shortcut, you’d never know what you missed along the way to your destination. 

Parting ways with Zen after the sunset, you were quick to find yourself in the location of the message box that he’d left for you. He wasn’t waiting for you, but you had expected that. He would keep you waiting and guessing, wouldn’t he? A man that thrived on secrets would be the kind of man that liked to keep people on their toes, even if he was close to them.

An enigma, no different than the mystery that surrounded your boss, but this one was tangible. You could see Unknown and you could feel his breath against your cheek. He was real and so were the other feelings pooling inside of your guts. 

This was one thing that you could focus on and without a doubt know that something would come of it. Now, you weren’t sure what, but you knew it would be something interesting. Isn’t that what you’d wanted, anyway? Whether you wanted it or not, you were biting your tongue and eating those words every day. 

Looking up at the sky, you noted how the horizon had already given way to the seas of red and orange. He said that he would meet you as soon as the day had come to an end and the sun was setting. There hadn't been a specific time beyond that.

You weren't sure how long he might keep you waiting out here or if he'd… 

_No_ . Unknown _wouldn't do that_ , right? A look crossed your face, scowling. "He better not have lied to me about this. Crooks and criminals aren't the same, are they? I swear! I swear if he stands me up after going to the trouble of—" 

“You’ll what?” 

A presence stirs from behind you and you instantly spin around to meet the gaze of mint eyes as they bore into yours. You’re surprised that he’s not as late as you were starting to think he would be. He’d dismounted his horse and tipped his hat at you, never once did that amused expression leave his face. It seemed as though you struck a nerve. 

Wasn’t the first time, probably wouldn’t be the last time, you thought. 

“Oh, nothing. I was just wondering if you were going to prove to me what kind of person you are, or if you were going to stand me up,” was your response. You rested a hand against your hip as your gaze began to wander up and down his person. He looked no different than before, but since it was a warm night, there was no sign of his duster. His red hair was as vivid and vibrant as ever. 

His black sleeves were rolled up his forearms and they revealed skin that had seen better days. There was marring around his wrists and skin that looked like it hadn’t kissed the sun in years. His face was the only part of him that had even the smallest hint of sunlight, and even that was barely there. 

It’d made no sense to you how someone so often bathed in the sunlight of this area to be lacking a tan or at least a hint of freckles. “I see that attitude of yours still needs an adjustment,” he said. 

You watched him as his eyes reflected into yours. It was hard to get a read on what he was thinking. “If you weren’t happy with it, I’m sure that you’d have gotten rid of me by now. No, I’m positive that we wouldn’t even be talking right now if that was the case.” 

And, Unknown offered his outstretched hand for you to take just as you said those words. He cocked his head. “Then, are you willin’ to come and see things the rest of the way, or are you going to turn tail n’ head back to Zen?” 

He was giving you an out. It didn’t mean that he was going to take away the debt you held, but he was letting you choose if you wanted to entangle yourself deeper with his problems or if you were ready to go back to your life where you simply do what you were doing every day until he deemed your debt as good as gold. 

You had come this far and you didn’t intend to turn back. Where was the point in dancing with this thought if you gave up halfway? You took his hand without a second thought. “I think you know me better than that, Unknown.” 

His chuckle surprised you. “You’re somethin’ else, little Cereus. C’mon, then. We ain’t got no time to waste tonight.” 

He meant it when he said that. He wasn’t here for small talk, and that’s how you swiftly found yourself with your arms wrapped tightly around his waist for balance. You learned that the horse had a name as well, with a whisper, you heard him tell Begonia to get a move on. You could faintly recall from a memory sketched out in the back of your mind that that was a flower. 

You couldn’t recall what it looked like but given the fact that he’d disregarded your name and called you Cereus was telling of his naming habits. Unknown was an oddity, that was for sure. Did he even pick his alias or had it been gifted to him? You’d heard plenty of false whispers in the bar now and again. 

When it came to the outlaws, there was always a murmur of what they were capable of and what may happen if you were to encounter them. The talk when it came to Unknown was always filled with the idea that he was a boogeyman in the dead of night. Sure, you’d seen how easy it was for him to show someone true terror, but enough for him to be a mythical monster? 

You weren’t so sure about that. 

Working at the bar had shown you that while people were willing to commit the crime for power, there were just as many people doing it with great shame weighing above their heads. It wasn’t easy to live and get by in this world and sometimes… you had to do things that may not make you feel great about yourself. 

It wasn’t said with pride when you admitted that you had to do wrong. 

It was no different than when you turned your head as you saw a child pocket something from the fruit vendors. You simply knew that while there was plenty of reason to say something, hunger could make a person do things that you couldn’t imagine. 

Was it like that for Unknown, then? Had he and his brother been like that as children and then grown to be the people they were today from that? You could imagine that, but you could just as easily see a reality where the two of them just decided to do something against others for the sake of having some fun. 

Being this close to him wasn’t something that you expected. He was surprisingly cool to the touch in this weather. The last time that you’d touched his hand, it felt like you were touching the fresh ice as it stuck to the door of your house. 

Was he always this cold? A part of you would love the feeling of that icy touch when the sun bore down against your face. You lost yourself in those thoughts as the faint thumping of his heart nearly lulled you to a sense of security. 

“We’re here,” his voice was gruff but firm. 

“Here?” you asked, and looking around at where he’d stopped. You were surprised to see that he’d taken you back into town. Well, it was the town, but it wasn’t quite the side of town that you’d been spending most of your time these days. It was the half that started to give way to the houses of the wealthy. 

There weren’t many people with luxury under their belt in this town, but it didn’t mean that this town was without people that were made of cash. It was quite a bit away from the house that Zen had made for himself, that was for sure. You were thinking of men like Jumin Han, or vice versa. Though, you’d assumed that that man wasn’t on their hit-list. 

Yet, anyway. 

It seemed like anyone could fall onto that list if they dared to do the wrong thing. Though, knowing what the wrong thing was, was the real question here. He was letting you fill in the lines yourself, “So, what are you going to show me, then?” you asked. 

“I told ya’, little Cereus. I’m goin’ to show you the ugliness in this world. You were the one that wanted to see for ya’self what it was to be truly wicked.” 

“And, that’s going to be found there?” 

“It can be found anywhere, but if I figured ya’re the kinda person that needs to see the worst of the worst to know what’s truly going on. I doubt ya’d believe me if all ya’ had to go on was what you’ve seen in the bar,” he said. It was a simple rebuff. He wasn’t wrong about that and he knew that was the case. 

So, you followed him.

He led you around a building and ducked underneath the nearest window. He gestured up at the small crack in the wood that allowed for the conversation inside to echo just enough outside. He pressed his hand to your lips and gave you the warning to bite your tongue and be quiet. The two of you were close as the conversation from inside grew louder. 

“God, did you dispose of those kids? We can’t have them runnin’ around and telling anyone about what they saw.”

“Lee is taking care of that. Don’t ya’ worry about it. The river washes all that away on a good night like tonight.” 

“That’s it, then. It’ll take some reasoning with Chairman Han but we can foreclose on those houses soon enough, run out the old and bring in the new and unsuspecting. The more people that can be brought here with the hope that they’re gonna strike it rich in a matter of days, the better. They’ll be here to pour everything into our pockets.” 

“Oh, he’s easily swayed when you dangle a pretty face in front of him. I believe you’ve talked to Madam Choi about that matter, correct?” 

“Oh, she’s more than willin’ to put her pearls on the table for it. She just wants confirmation that you’ll make good on your end of the deal.” 

“Crafty, that woman. Oh, well. Tell her she’ll be paid what she’s due and then some, but we both know how this is goin’ to end at the end of the day. She doesn’t need to know she’ll be burning down with the rest of the ship.” 

“Hahaha. You’re right about ne’. It was far too easy to get him to come out here in the first place, and might as well take care of that problem while we’re goin’ to the hassle. I think the boss would agree to that.”

“Yeah, well, he’s not around right now so we get to make these choices. Speakin’ of work, the hell were you all day today? Ugh, don’t tell me you were back at the bars again. Wait, don’t tell me. You were at the bar watchin’ that pretty outsider again.”

“Psh. Can ya’ blame me for that? They’ve got those damn doe eyes like they ain’t never seen someone do somethin’ wrong before. I like naive and stupid like that. Ya’ think I could convince them to come out with them? I’ve had a few thoughts about what that mouth could do.” 

“You? Ya’d sooner have a chance with a vulture than ya’ would with that filly. Ya’ barking up the wrong tree. ‘Sides, I’m damn sure that thing has something goin’ on with Zen.” 

“hen we get ‘nough money, I doubt they’ll be sayin’ no to me.” 

That was the moment that you couldn’t stomach any more of their conversation. 

The conversation turned into something that you didn’t want to hear anymore. These people were talking about hurting others, taking money, and ruining everything that they saw and wanted within their sights. The more that you heard, the more that you wish you didn’t. It was Pandora’s box that couldn’t be closed. 

Unknown warned you. He had told you that you wouldn’t like the answer and you hadn’t listened to that. You only had yourself to blame when it came to that front. You pressed a hand to your lips and stifled the sound that wanted to escape you. This wasn’t okay. You could only imagine what horrors were happening to… 

You knew those voices, too. You knew that they had been in the bar before and they had been amongst the sea of people Unknown had warned you about. Your eyes were wide as you looked only ahead of you as the voices echoed in the background. 

This was about more than someone taking money, these people were talking about manipulating the town and all of its people like they were toys to get money. Their plan still didn’t click for you, but all you could think about was how cruel and ugly it was. 

Unknown had been right. 

Murder.

Blackmail. 

Manipulation. 

What you had heard had only been the tipping point. Those conversations in the bars were just about the low bar crimes, and this? This was much bigger and it went deeper than you knew. You turned your head to look at Unknown and he was giving you that deep look, the one that said that he knew. He did know that you understood what he was thinking. 

It wasn’t just criminals hurting others to get money. This was above and beyond just stealing from people to get money to survive. This was… this was wrong. If this was the kind of people that he was trying to get rid of, well… a part of your stomach wasn’t angry with what Unknown was trying to do, even if you still weren’t sure what it was. 

Did he want to eradicate them? 

Or, did he want them punished? 

Either way, anyone who wanted to do something to stop this couldn’t be a bad person. You drew in a breath and broke your gaze from his. You had seen enough. There was no way to convince you in any other way. 

There was no way to view what those men had been talking about and no way to change what those words meant. 

It made you sick to your stomach, but you wouldn’t show that in front of Unknown. Even if he could see it reflected in your eyes. 

He knew that it was enough for you. So, you started to walk with him aimlessly back the way that you came, on the way passing more and more of the thick cacti had littered this area of the land. None of them were any that you knew. None of them as stark as the one that he’d picked for your meeting spot. 

The long cacti that had caught your eye… 

That was still there. 

Your fingers were trembling, and while a part of you wanted to say that maybe the evening chill from the lack of the sun had finally hit you, you knew that that wasn’t the case. In a way, you thought that he must have pitied you. He warned you that it would be hard to stomach, and the details that you’d heard made you sick. 

And, that was nothing that you could do about it. 

One of those voices? 

_That had been the sheriff_. 

Unknown wasn’t the monster here… far from it. It was the people with the images that were meant to protect others that were breaking everything apart. You felt a weight press against your shoulders, thick leather against your skin. You lifted your head and looked back to see Unknown staring at you, his coat now resting against you. 

It was warm. 

“I warned ya’ that it wouldn’t be pretty,” he said, quietly. His voice having a strange softness to it this time. “But what ya’ heard ain’t a lie in the slightest way. They’ve been swindling people out of their money for years in this town, and they’re not above murder and deceit to get what they want.” 

“I should’ve believed you from the start,” you said. “I should’ve…” 

“Nah,” he shook his head. You watched as he turned his head away from you and looked out at the vast plans that lay ahead of you. “If I were ya’, I wouldn’t trust nobody. It’s better that way, little Cereus. It would do you well not to get involved deeper than ya’ already are.”

You gripped at the fabric of his duster as it wrapped around you. “Then, can I ask why you wanted to even show me all of this, then?”

There was a drop of hesitation on his part. Unknown kicked at the ground as you walked forward, his eyes never once straying from the road. “I suppose… I remember seein’ someone like you when I was younger who trusted the world way too much and paid for it with his life. Don’t get it twisted, this ain’t me saying that I care or nothing… but, I ought’ to say that I know that you’ll never become like those devils. So, it’d do you well to know that the world ain’t as pretty as you think.” 

“But, it is beautiful,” you countered his words with a shake of your head. “Just because… there are bad people out there doesn’t mean that takes away from the kindness that I’ve seen. If I were to only think of the people who hurt others, instead of the people like… Zen, who got me a job to help me get away from living the same life like my parents, or Yoosung who has been nice to me since I arrived without any hesitation, or Jumin and Jaehee who welcomed me with open arms.” 

“...” 

You stopped in your tracks as the two of you reached the end of your walk, the familiar cacti formation staring back at you alongside his horse. This time, you reached out for him fast and pressed your hand into his own. “Or, you… the one that saved my life when he didn’t have to do it and continues to try and show me how to protect myself.” 

That left Unknown stunted for a moment as he stared back at you. 

You couldn’t read his face but you could see the way his eyes widened and the way his cheeks began to warm. For some reason, you could feel your chest fluttering. You’d never been this close to someone before… not someone who pushed you to your edge and dared to make you think twice before you spoke. 

With your other hand, you grasped at his hat and tipped it back just enough that you could truly see his mint eyes. They were otherworldly, almost as if they had been kissed by the sky. It had been the first thing that you noticed. He didn’t stop you from doing it. 

He watched with bated breath, and you just let yourself sink deeper into him. 

“You want to stop them, right?” 

“They can’t get away with what they’re doin’, little Cereus. Too many people have gotten hurt already and the only way to stop them...” 

“Is to be worse than they are?” 

Now, Unknown looked away from you when you said that. There was a lot that he still hadn’t told you about himself, but you knew that there was sincerity and truth in those words. Rather, he caught your other hand and directed you to look back at the ground. 

You followed his vision to that particular plant that had caught your eye in the first place, “Tell me, do you know anything about Cereus?” he asked. 

You shook your head. “This is the first that I’ve heard of them. We don’t have things like this back where I’m from. So, I didn’t know they existed until I came here. I’ve been curious about that, to be honest with you. If only because you won’t stop calling me that.” 

He chuckled at that. Unknown wasn’t going to give you the answers that you wanted to know, not all of them, not so soon. He didn’t operate without his secrets. You knew that he would keep you looking for the next answer. 

He leaned over and this time, you could feel his breath against your cheek and his eyes deeply gazing into your own. It didn’t take much for you to gasp. Something about being close to him was electrified and it made you want more. Even though you knew that it was dangerous. 

Yet, now you knew that he wasn’t the one to be concerned with. There was no denying that you wanted to be closer to him, the way that he spoke and the way that he held onto your every word lingered on you like an imprint. You needed a distraction. You needed to know that you were living and that this moment was real. You needed to know that this was true. 

You needed to know that even in this moment of unease about the world, there was still something worth looking for in the desert. 

“It’s not time yet,” he murmured with a hum that made you shiver. “But, soon ‘nough, I want to show you what makes you Cereus.” 

“ _Will you?_ ”

“Haha… now, don’t you know better than to assume I won’t make good on my offers, little Cereus? Unless you’ve finally decided to listen to everything I tell ya’ without fighting me the entire way to the end.” 

“My, my, Unknown. I’m surprised you haven’t learned your lesson about me, then. You’re the one that told me to go down swinging to the end no matter what,” you leaned just a bit closer, just a bit more, just enough that you’d almost felt your lips touching. “Or, are you forgetting that fact? Would you like a reminder, then?” 

The smirk that appeared on his face taunted you. It beckoned you to try something. You weren’t sure what you were working on, but you wanted to lean closer. You wanted to test the limits of what was okay and what wasn’t okay. 

“I don’t know if you’ll like what you’ll find at the end,” he countered. 

“Isn’t that for me to decide?” you said. 

That laugh of his made your stomach twist into knots. There was just something about him that pulled you in and took every shred of your attention. Was it like this for him? Was he feeling what you were feeling? 

Just as the two of you had gotten so close, so close that you could feel his lips almost touch yours, a voice ripped you away from your thoughts. The sounds of laughter drew you away from Unknown in an instant, he jumped away from you and looked in the direction of the sound with a grimace. It was a figure that you knew fairly well by this point, with the red hair, it wasn’t hard to guess who it was. 

It was his brother. 

“Hey, hey, hey!” You hadn’t seen him in a couple of days. The bar had gotten busier, though. You didn’t have a lot of time to look around for faces. “Hate to interrupt ya’ date night,” he said without warning. 

His eyes flickered in your direction for a second with a wink before he looked back at Unknown who looked none too happy. “Or, I guess, I hate to bother ya’ when you’re out for a ride with Little Dipper and your informant. I mean, it looked a little too cozy for a meetin’, ya’ can’t blame me for thinkin’ it might be something else.”

“That is not her name,” Unknown scoffed. Huh. You never expected him to defend his horse’s name of all things. He ignored the other comment that his brother mentioned. “We’ve gone over this a hundred times. I’m not humoring it.” 

“As far as I’m concerned, she’s the little dipper to the Big Dipper over here,” Luciel laughed, and waved off that comment. “Either way, we can argue the semantics later of her name when we’re alone. I’ve come with some news that we need to take care of right away. And, since it’s been dangerous to go into town lately, I figured that I should try to catch ya’ before ya’ took Cereus back to Zen.”

Now, that sparked your interest. Unknown’s as well. What would he want you to do? This was the first that he was asking you to do something apart from meet with Unknown. 

He narrowed his eyes, “I don’t have all night. What’s the deal?” 

“Jihyun’s back,” Luciel said. The two brothers shared a quiet look that seemed to communicate something that you weren’t meant to know. They stayed like that for the longest moment before they looked at you. “I saw his train come into town. We can’t go and talk to him, but we can get Cereus to deliver a message for us to find a meeting spot.” 

There was a lot that you didn’t know about that man. But, you did know one thing. “He’s been gone for months, why would he just turn up out of the blue like this? Jumin mentioned that he would let us know when Jihyun was returning. What kind of message do you mean?” 

“You don’t need to concern yourself with that now,” Unknown said, flatly. It was curt and blunt. It was different from the tone that you had just seen from him. It was like he had changed at the flip of his hat. You didn’t know what to say. Did he not want you to interact with Jihyun? He was your boss, it was going to happen sooner or later. 

“But, I—” 

“ _Need to know basis,_ little Cereus.” 

You knew that Luciel had said something about needing Jihyun before, but you hadn’t thought much of it. So, they were working together? There was still a lot that you weren’t piecing together, but there wasn’t time to think it through. 

You knew better than to ask outright. Learning what they were keeping from you meant—

Meant that you would know what it meant to see the true world. 

Luciel had a different feeling about this, there was an urgency in his voice, “They’re the only one that we can trust to get this done right now. We can’t wait anymore for him and if he doesn’t respond, we’ll have to do this on our own. The bar is closed right now and they’re the one that can get inside. You know that’s where he’s going to be.” 

“...Fine. Send them. If you’re too much of a coward to chase him down yourself,” he said, simply. “I doubt he’s going to hold good on his end. It’s a waste to use Cereus like that.” 

Unknown didn’t seem all too happy about sending you back into town. But, it wasn’t like you had much of a choice in the matter. Luciel held out a note for you and you reluctantly left Unknown’s side to take it from him. You looked back at him one more time, something uncertain written in your eyes as he looked at you, and then looked away. 

Was he regretting what you had nearly done? Had he realized how close the two of you were just tangled together? Were you going to finish what you started? Or, would he ignore how close you had become? Your heart was still pounding but there wasn’t a chance to think about it. 

Why did you do that? 

“I’ll make sure he gets the message.” 

For some reason, there was unease pooling inside of you. 


	5. Chapter 5

You held the note in your hands like it was going to burn a hole in your pocket if you allowed it to do so. 

There was so much that you didn’t know about Luciel, about Unknown, and about what all of the goals that they planned to achieve were. You knew that a part of it was on a need-to-know basis, as he had made it abundantly clear to you that there were pieces that he wasn’t willing to tell you every last shred of detail. 

But, the small bits and pieces were there, slowly churning in the back of your mind as you thought about all of it. 

They were trying to fight back against people who were manipulating the entire town for what it was worth. They were trying to figure out how to take them down, but you had no answer for why they wanted to do that… apart from the notion that you understood Unknown’s disgust for people who used their strength to hurt others like that. 

These people wanted to turn the town into an endless game of hope that would bring nothing but misfortune to everything but their pocketbooks. Greed and lust once again flooding the well until the top was about to overflow. 

You supported the idea of stopping these people but how in the world were they to stop it with the help of Jihyun?

_ Jihyun was an enigma.  _

He seemed more of a myth and a story to you than he did a man. 

That was simply because he hadn’t been there since you arrived and although his kindness had gifted you a job, you didn’t know what to make of him apart from those stories you heard. It sounded like the bar had once been a lively place that everyone came to when they needed to breathe and to explore what it means to have fun amid their dreams. 

It sounded idyllic the way that Yoosung painted the way that Jihyun and Rika had shifted everything in the matter of a couple of months together. But, the more you learned about this town, the more you’d known that things were not as perfect as they claimed to be. 

Nothing could ever be what claimed to be perfect but those mint eyes had dared you to dream. 

You could still feel the warmth of his body so close to your own. It was bad enough that you owed him everything, but now you could feel something else brewing inside of you that hinged on the dangerous simply because of who he was. Perhaps, if you pushed those feelings down and tried to keep walking, it would be alright. 

Yet, your heart continued to flutter and radiate inside of your chest no matter what you did. 

Was this really what you were doing? 

Had you allowed yourself to become so tangled up with this man because he showed you things that nobody else had ever done? Had you let yourself become so comfortable around him and the idea of him that you desired more? Was it really what you were feeling or was this a passing fancy like two ships in the night? 

You tried to shake it away. 

There was plenty more to focus on at the moment and you had a job to do. It may have been late at night but there were still a few people straggling about the town as you walked back down the path towards the bar. That was a bit of a comfort to you knowing that there would be people around if something went wrong. 

You would take your chances with that in comparison to lying in wait in the middle of the trail where nobody could hear you scream for help if it came down to it. Now that you knew that there was no real way to know who you could trust, you were willing to take a risk and do something about it. 

Even though your stomach was pooling with dread after everything tonight.

Even after knowing that your understanding of what it meant to do good for others was warped...If there was something that you could do, even as small as making sure that this note got to where it was meant to be, you had to do it. No matter what you thought about the monsters around the corner, you had to try. 

It was better to say that you tried than it was to ignore everything. 

Ignorance is bliss, you thought. But, that bliss is a falsehood, and without the truth with your hands, how are you going to make a difference? How could you truly find anyone with sincerity in their heart without searching beyond the mess that lingered along the horizon? 

You would like to think that you aren’t the same person that you were when you arrived. 

You would like to think that.

But, you know that deep down, you’re still the same person, you’re just more aware that you need to watch what you’re doing. It feels like there are eyes on your body with each step you take but how is it any different from what you’ve had thus far? Everyone thinks that you’re just an outsider who doesn’t know any better. 

Unknown told you that, Luciel told you that, and just about everyone you met had laughed at you as if you were a joke to them. 

You didn’t want to be a joke. You didn’t want people to think that you were some kind of idiot that didn’t know any better. You weren’t. You wanted to do something to prove yourself, and if this was all that you could do, then you would do it. You kept your eyes deadset on the bar and you didn’t stop until you were standing in front of the door. 

You let yourself inside and were surprised by the candlelight at the center of the bar. 

There was someone there that you didn’t know. It had to be Jihyun Kim. There was no one else that could be here at this hour. His hair was mint and tucked back out of his way with a hair tie, his sleeves were rolled up his forearms and his coat rested on a chair nearby as he started seemingly at nothing at all, deep in his thoughts. 

Was this the man? 

“Excuse me,” your voice sounded foreign as you spoke up. You wanted to grimace at the sound but you could worry about that later. “But, by any chance, would you happen to be Jihyun?” 

And, he looked back at you, his mint eyes curious and looking for answers that he may not find just by looking at you like this. The quirk of his brow told you that he was trying to study you as much as you were trying to study him. It seemed as though he hadn’t had the chance to find out who you were just yet given the hour. 

“Yes,” he answered.

Pulling the note from your pocket, you held it out for him to take. He stared at it for the longest moment before you added for the sake of clarity, “I have something for you, then. It’s from Seven and Unknown.” 

Now, that pulled a look from him that was weighed with surprise. He didn’t seem to think that would be what he would receive. He took the note from you and stared down at it for a moment longer, and after his hesitance, he looked back at you. He seemed to put the pieces together on his own, though, there was still a sparkle to his eyes that wanted answers.

“And, by any chance, would you happen to be [Y/N]?” 

“That is my name, yes,” you told him with a nod. “I’m the one entertainer you hired thanks to Hyun’s good word. Thank you for that, by the way. It’s been nothing but a warm welcome for me since I got here.” 

“It… It was no problem,” he said. “Hyun spoke highly of ya’, and we needed the help. I appreciate that you came all this way despite… having fallen into some trouble. Or, am I wrong in mistaking that fact, [Y/N[?”

The eyes on your coat were very telling. 

“You… you aren’t wrong, sir. That would be the short way of saying it.” 

Silence washed over the both of you in no time. There was so much to ask and so much to say but it seemed as though neither you nor Jihyun knew where to start. Perhaps, he was wondering how his new hire was working with criminals just as you were trying to figure out how your boss knew those same very criminals. 

So, you simply took a seat atop the bar and started at the stage. Things certainly had taken a change since you found yourself here. It was strange to think that it had only been a matter of weeks since you first arrived and now you were tangled up in a mess. 

It wasn’t all that bad. You were grateful for every chance that you had been given and on top of that, you were simply happy that despite the circumstances, you had some real friends for the first time in a very long time. 

Was it the same for Jihyun? 

Did he feel like he was lost in the same way that you had? He had lost someone precious to him and his life changed forever because of it. You had felt a similar way when Zen had left town when he did all the time ago, leaving you with not a friend to speak of and a sense that the world was going to leave you behind. 

The difference was that Zen was still alive somewhere out there and… Rika wasn’t. So, you could only imagine what he must be feeling and going through. You understood that the bar must have held all of these memories that he couldn’t escape which made sense in reasoning why he wasn’t around as much if you didn’t question anything else. 

Grief was something that you could never escape, but you could escape from a place that would spurn you to think of only grief. 

Your fingers toyed with the ends of the coat you were wearing. It just occurred to you that you were still wearing Unknown’s clothes. Has that thought slipped your mind? Is that why Jihyun had looked right at you with such a strange gaze in his eyes? 

Why had he let you keep this, anyway? He seemed very fond and particular of his things. After his twin arrived at the scene, he seemed less enthused about being close to you. So, why, then…? 

It was like he was ready to do something with you and the next second, he pulled away like he wanted not a thing to do with you. It seemed like the more you unraveled this man, the more layers you found hiding him away from the rest of the world. 

Who was Unknown? Was he someone who cared about the innocent or was he someone that cared about himself? 

If humans were so willing to hide behind masks now, how would you ever find someone who was completely and utterly honest? You had only known he was being honest when he told you that he wanted to stop these crooks. Whether it was the right thing to do or not, you wanted to believe in him. 

You wouldn’t take this coat as him saying that he didn’t care about you. It was obvious that he was open to listening and showing more of himself. “If you don’t mind my saying, sir, could I ask you something?” 

Jihyun looked from the note in his hands that he was staring at not having opened but seemingly weighing his options. 

Seven had said that Jihyun was supposed to be working with them and there was an implication that his trip wasn’t just to get away from his grief. You knew that it was none of your business but it had been eating away at you for weeks now. 

Perhaps, it was the fact that you’d nearly allowed yourself to tangled yourself within Unknown’s arms as the tension rose like a wildfire… or maybe it was just the confidence that you’d gained from letting yourself take the stage; But, you wanted to know and you didn’t want to take no for an answer if you could help it. 

You wanted to help. 

But, how were you supposed to help when you were in the dark in the first place? 

His eyes were closely studying you, “Of course, what is it?” 

“It’s about… the brothers,” you told him, quietly. Nobody was around so there was nothing to worry about. So, you decided to push your luck. Yoosung and Zen had nothing to tell you on the matter of Seven. They simply didn’t know that Luciel had a twin… hell, they didn’t even think that he was the conman that he was. 

They thought he was a student, studying away nightly to create things that the world had never seen before… it seemed as though they were ignorant to the notion of the redhead student and the redhead criminal being one and the same. Red hair wasn’t all that common around these parts, not as far as you could tell.

So, it seemed...

_ Strange _ . 

“I know it’s none of my business,” you clutched tighter at the fabric to ground yourself. “But, I’m concerned about them. They said that they were running out of time. That it was getting impossible to do what they needed to do. But, what are they running out of time for?” 

Jihyun’s shoulders were stiff but he seemed that question over for a long moment. He looked back at the bar and then down at his hands where the letter rested. “It’s… It’s a very long story, and a lot of it isn’t my story to tell. I see that you’ve… grown close to them. I must thank you for bein’ there for him when I could not be.” 

That piqued your curiosity. So, you continued pressing to see what he would reveal to you. “You were there for them before, then?”

“Myself and my… fiancé. I’ve known them for quite a while. We would look after them when they needed someone to care for them. Though it was my misplaced judgment that spurned them into the life they are now living, I’m afraid. I can’t change the choices that lead to this moment but I’m working to do what I can to mend it.” 

His voice sounded wracked by guilt. As if he did believe that it was all his fault. How could it be his fault? It didn’t make sense. How would his helping them lead them to a life crime? It didn’t connect any dots for you. Though, you could see that he meant what he was saying. He was genuine in his regret and remorse. 

But, you had no idea what he regretted. 

“But, you’re not the one making them do what they’re doing right now. I don’t see how that’s your fault, Jihyun,” you said. 

“Perhaps not. However, to protect themselves from the danger they had to take… precautions that may not have been the right idea. Dealin’ with the wrong people and I was… far too naive at the time to get the scale of what I’d…” his hesitation to finish that thought stood out to you. He had done something but whatever that something was, was lost to you.

There was a reason why he wasn’t saying more. It likely had to do with the fact that he was letting the boys tell their own story. Well, you expected that, but it didn’t remove your curiosity from the line as it was. That was more than you thought he’d share. 

Your gaze lingered on the cacti resting in the window for just a moment longer. This was all you needed to do for the brothers tonight. Still, there was one question lingering in the back of your mind that you wanted the answer for and if he could provide some peace of mind, you would take the smallest shred of it and run.

“...It’s not going to put them into danger, right?”

His silence didn’t ease any of the butterflies in your stomach. “As long as things go as they should, nobody should be hurt,” he said. 

It wasn’t a promise. 

Just vague enough to placate someone. 

But, you would take anything at this point. The lingering memory of Unknown with cuts and bruises still haunts you. Who would hurt him when he and his brother were meant to be on top? It just didn’t sit well with you. Knowing what kind of people that they were up against did nothing to ease your woe at all. 

There were people dead because of the actions of the criminals in this town. What more could befall others if it wasn’t stopped? You sucked in a breath, “And, you, Jihyun, you want them to be okay too, right? I mean, I just met you and all… but, I’m worried about them. I want things to be alright.” 

You could feel him studying you again, this time making sure that his eyes lingered on the coat you were wearing. He had some thoughts of his own about that, and you knew that he did, but you weren’t sure what he thought. He was supposed to be a neutral man that didn’t put his hat into the ring.

But, if those boys meant  _ something  _ to him?

It meant that he might be just as wary of you as you felt you had to be of anyone in this town. No matter who you were or what you did… It made sense for him to be cautious. Just as you were very apparent of your word choices. 

You took in a breath, “For what it’s worth, it seems like you’re trying to help them… even if I don’t know everything, I don’t think you should blame yourself for something that you never planned to go wrong in the first place. If they still want to work with you, I think that says a lot about what kind of faith they must have in you, even now, sir.” 

Jihyun was left to mull that over as you left. He didn’t say much else to you, just to have a nice evening ahead of you before you went to bed. There would be plenty of more times to speak with him in the coming days since he had returned to his bar and you would continue to see your work get done as it was meant to.

“...”

With a heart that was heavy with everything that had come to pass and everything that remained, you left the bar and headed back out onto the streets to make your way home for the night. It wasn’t a very long walk but it was already quite dark out. You had spent far more time with Unknown than you had thought. 

Speaking with V had cleared some of the nerves from your gut but there was still plenty more to think about ahead of you. You sucked in a breath and began the long trek home. However, that walk would not be the same tonight. 

Because once you met the end of the town where it cleared into nothing but a stretch of earth… 

“Agh!” 

A hand grasped the back of your coat and pushed you down against the dirt with a heavy clatter, and the yelp that escaped you did nothing to stop the assailant from pinning you down. A foot pressed to your back and a haughty hiss left you staring wide-eyed into the dirt, unable to believe that you’d been jumped once again. 

“Well, well, Unknown, looks like it’s time ya’ face your maker. You were warned what happens when ya’ set foot in this town… I’m thinkin’ the ol’ mayor will be mighty excited learnin’ I finally caught his pesky son.” 


	6. Chapter 6

Unknown could say one thing with certainty and that was that he expected you to show up at your home that night. Once his brother was out of the way and did what he had set out to do, all he had wanted to do was finish where the two of you left off. 

It wasn’t like he was going soft or anything but you were a pretty face and the first person that he had ever wanted to be close to in this way.

Whatever that meant. 

He waited for a while that night but you never came back. No lights, no walking, nothing. There was no sign of you anywhere near Zen’s place. The candlelight inside wasn’t even glowing by the time that he arrived, so he assumed that the big lug was already asleep for the night. This meant that if you arrived, then commotion would be stirred. 

But, you never did. 

That didn’t sit right in his gut. 

He wasn’t sure why that was, but you were a creature of habit. You did your job, you came home, and you didn’t do much else beyond that. It was frankly not exciting in the slightest but there was a part of him that envied that you never had to worry about this or that. 

What was it like to live a life where you never had to worry about a roof over your head? 

You seemed to know things and understand things on a level that he didn’t have the capacity for. It wasn’t like he or his brother were ever able to have a normal life. They had been cursed from the start and their existence was nothing more than an accident that allotted their mother money for some time until things changed. 

And they changed faster than he could deal with them. From one situation to another, the only thing that he had ever known was that he couldn’t trust anyone to do anything right. Not even his twin brother, but he still trusted Seven a lot more than he trusted everyone else. If you told him that he needed to pick between his brother or Jihyun… 

He’d pick his brother, hands down. There might have been a time when he said differently but that was the past and there was no fixing what had been wronged. 

While he spent a while waiting for you, he was able to think about what it was that he felt when he was with you. There was an intense burning in his chest that whispered something oh-so-very-dangerous in the back of his head over and over again.

It was spurning him to try something different for once in his rotten life. 

It didn’t make him want to have hope, that was long wrenched away from his grasp, but it did make him want to feel your face between his hands. 

It started from the moment he saw your eyes and just like that, he knew that he wasn’t going to be able to look away. Bathed in the moonlight, you reminded him of the first sign of hope that he had ever seen. 

It didn’t make sense at first because you were a whirlwind. Every word out of your mouth was meant to push back and fight him every step of the way. You weren’t quite as out of touch as he thought you were but there was a charm about how much you were willing to bite back. 

He’d never seen someone kept onto their kindness while standing their ground.

This wasn’t something that he was capable of, not anymore, but seeing a glimpse of someone who still had a good heart underneath the venom and vinegar of the desert? That was like finding a river in the middle of the dirt. It just didn’t matter unless you were blinded with thirst and deprived of your sanity for a few days. 

You were… something else. 

That was the only way that he could describe without opening something that he wasn’t sure that he was ready to open quite yet. 

Nevertheless, hours passed by and there was no sign of you. He eventually decided that enough was enough and he needed to find you. You had one trail to follow here and nothing else. You were going to the bar and then you were going to your home. Something had likely gone wrong between the bar and the walk back here. Nobody should’ve touched you, though. 

Everyone knew your face now and nobody was dumb enough to reach out and touch someone that was under Hyun Ryu’s protection. That was asking for trouble and a can of worms that you wouldn’t want to open in the first place. So, why was it that he had yet to see you? It wasn’t like you could’ve lost your way and walked off the edge of a cliff. 

You didn’t know how to get around without a map for locations that you didn’t have the foresight of looking into. Yet, you knew the path that you took by now. So, what happened to you last night after you departed from meeting with him and his twin? There was an expansion of time that wasn’t likely to be accounted for.

Unless… 

Jihyun wouldn’t have done anything to you… right?

Right? 

No, no. That idiot wouldn’t allow the same mistake to happen not once, but twice, would he? He wasn’t daft enough to let someone else get hurt because he forgot to look over his shoulder for the vultures again, right? Unknown had no doubts in his gut about it. He needed to find out if you’d hadn’t left the bed last night and stayed there instead. 

It was dangerous during daylight to head out into the town without proper coverage. As much as he wanted to rush in without thinking, that would be stupid of him. He knew better than that. 

So, he had to go and fetch his twin first so they could maneuver with this. As much as he hated that, it was the only way to get things done. 

Luciel could show his face and nearly get away with it in the bar, but Unknown didn’t have that luxury because they needed to avoid showing anyone that they have the same face. There was a reason why his twin was the one going out to places without a mask, and why he was. 

They both had a role to play and if they wanted things done right, they had to stick to it. 

It all started back at the beginning where all of this started. 

_When they first met Rika and Jihyun._

* * *

“I know you’re thirsty, but please, hang on just a little longer, okay?.”

“...It’s so hot, Saeyoung.” 

“It’s going to be okay. We just have to keep walking and I’m sure we’ll find the river sooner or later, I know it’s around here, I promise.” 

“Okay.”

Two young boys lost in the desert, a story that was often told as a warning to anyone that would dare to travel without knowing the trail. They were certainly going to be left for dead, but Saeyoung wasn’t the type of person to lay down and take their death. He had managed to shelter his twin from seeing such a violent act in their home, but they weren’t safe. 

No matter how far they ran or what they did, they were going to be found. Their father wasn’t going to stop until they were killed such as their mother before them had been. Saeran didn’t need to know what happened. He just needed to know that they were going to make a break for it. He had to trick him by saying they were going to fetch some water. 

But, it was what he had to do. 

They spent nights in the desert trying to camp out and travel away from that home. They couldn’t follow the main trail because it was likely being watched. He was just one kid, and he wouldn’t be able to fight all of the adults if they tried to hurt his brother. He hated to subject Saeran to this but it was safer this way. 

It wasn’t long before they ran out of their small supply of water, and the only thing they had left was the cacti. Saeran had read once that the cacti could hold water within them, but it was not always safe to drink. It was still water though, and they needed something to get by. It wasn’t the highest moment of their lives. 

Saeyoung tested it first, but once he was alright, Saeran was free to take most of it. He took enough so that he wouldn’t feel a burn in the back of his throat. He left most of it for his twin to have because he was a lot weaker from being trapped inside all the time. 

The sun hardly ever met his face and he was much more accustomed to the moon.

It was easier to sneak out of the house at night. 

Though neither of them would know it at the time, the prolonged drinking of this specific blossom steadily skewed one’s eyesight, later on, Unknown would come to realize that after he’d spent his nights working and finding what little water he could to get by when he didn’t have the cash to get something clean. By then, his golden eyes had already turned a deep blue. 

A lasting mark of being subjected to the lowest level of survival. Yet, it was their only choice until one day, the two boys stumbled into the path of a young woman with blonde curls and bright eyes. She extended her hand to them and they took a chance on her kindness. It was better than they thought it might turn out. 

It was at that point that they were taken under the care of Jihyun and Rika for a short time. They stayed out of sight and out of mind in their household for a while, as they both studied and tried to learn how to live without looking over their shoulders. It felt like things were going to be okay in the long run, but—

Paradise doesn’t last forever. 

Their father got more aggressive in hunting them down, so much so to the point that Jihyun couldn’t keep them in his household anymore. So, he struck a deal with someone he knew to put the boys into hiding. It was an outlaw he knew, someone who understood how to teach someone to fend for their own needs and survive. 

Nobody looked at the law in this part of the country, it was to survive or die. 

Vanderwood was their name, and they weren’t the worst person. They showed Saeyoung and him how to do all sorts of things. But, the longer you’re around criminals, the easier it is for you to become one in the long run.

It didn’t take long for the twins to discover just how horrible the world could be and for Saeran, it broke him. 

Cruelty bore into his skin the longer they were around crooks. It was hard to stay positive when everyone you met wanted to gut you like a fish. Somewhere along the line, Saeran lost that part of himself to his anger. Saeyoung somehow tried to keep onto his spark of kindness and light, but Saeran couldn’t do that on his own. 

They wound up working apart most of the time to get what they needed to survive, and the more acts they committed, the more they realized that there were worse people than their father out there. They needed to be stopped. So, their crimes targeted those that hurt and manipulated others, and when they were sure they knocked them down, they would go for the final boss. 

Their father was often the final piece of the puzzle. Where one crook started, he was the one leading them or controlling them. He had forced his way into control over the entire area and nobody could stop him from it. 

His image was supposedly clean and his smile was kind; nobody seemed to be very willing to see this family man as the devil.

But, he was the devil, and Saeran and Saeyoung had seen it with their own eyes. 

Saejoong planned to use the towns that he controlled as a means to make money. Taking from the people that couldn’t keep up with their bills and moving in new people to trick when they left with empty hands. The trick was that he was the one controlling where the gold supply was going, and he was the one manipulating who stayed and who left. 

Unknown and Seven had finally connected the pieces of that puzzle. 

Not only was he guilty of the murder of their mother, but Saejoong had also been twisting the arms of everyone around him for decades. Someone had to stop him. He would kill anyone that got in his way or tried to control him. He did it to their mother without hesitation, and he would do it to them if he ever caught them. 

That’s what Jihyun was for. He was supposed to be gathering the witnesses and the evidence in print so that they could take him down. 

Their faces alone would be enough proof that he was their father, but Seven had traveled to find where their birth documents were stored. The proof was tightly hidden and well out of the way so it took him weeks to find it where it was. 

That’s why they had to split up. 

They all had a job to do and they all had their piece of the puzzle.

It just got harder for Jihyun to manage everything after Rika passed. 

It came out of nowhere and dragged her away just as the last plague had done. She didn’t suffer, as far as they knew, she simply was able to pass away after her body couldn’t keep up with the heat. She had always suffered from struggles in her life but no amount of smiles could save something from that. Her twisted smile and a broken heart were good as dead once she grew ill. 

She was kind but she still had her moments that made his skin crawl. She always had something to say about the way he dressed or the way he spoke. Her firm hand reminded him of his mother but he had never dared to say a word back then, but now? He twisted up the memory and shoved it away since it did him no good.

The dead were dead and they would stay that way. 

Even though Unknown was angry that Jihyun had robbed him of what joy he had left in the world of being innocent, they were still counting on him so that they could destroy Saejoong Choi and be able to live their own lives. 

Because no matter where they went or what they did, Saejoong would always be on the hunt for them. 

_And, to make matters worse, anyone that was close to them._

* * *

“They didn’t show up last night?” 

“Not for a damn minute,” Unknown responded as they headed into town. The horses were quick but they had to play it easy as not to raise any suspicions. “And, it ain’t like them to do that. They got from point A to point B every damn day. I doubt Jihyun’d keep them there for very long. But, that’s the only place they could be.” 

Seven whistled in response to that. “If I didn’t know any better I’d say ya’d got a crush on little Cereus, baby brother.” 

Unknown didn’t respond to that.

It was bad enough that he found Seven pawing around and checking on the wild cats that lived in the area, the last thing he wanted to do was talk about something mushy. He needed you and that’s all he needed to know. You needed to be okay because you couldn’t defend yourself against people like this no matter how much you said you should.

A silver tongue would say no man from a bullet. 

It wasn’t Seven’s business, anyway. Any dealings that he had with you were meant to be taken care of with him and him alone. The closer they got into town, the worse things became. It was too quiet to be an average day, and by the time they arrived at the bar, there was still no trace of you to be seen. Not a single hint that you had been there. 

“I’m getting a sinking feeling about this.” 

“Don’t fuckin’ jinx us.” 

The horses were left tied up and they sauntered closer to the door, and that’s when they heard the makings of a conversation brewing on the inside that sounded like trouble. It was Zen’s voice on the other side and he didn’t sound very happy about the circumstances. “What do you mean you don’t know where they went, V?!” 

Jihyun’s voice was there, though it was strained. “Hyun, they left the bar late last night and said they were heading home. That’s all I know. I’m afraid I don’t have any more information.” 

The clatter against the wood was still firm as a rock, “Yoosung said he hasn’t seen [Y/N] since they got off their shift. Nobody’s seen them since last night. You were the last person to see them, V. You have to give me more than this. I’m supposed to protect them and if some crook bastard put their hands on them, I’ll—”

“Slow down, Zen, ya’ gotta slow down,'' Seven rushed forward to grasp his friend by the forearm and shake his head at him. “If Jihyun doesn’t know what happened, he doesn’t know. Turnin’ against him ain’t gonna help anyone. I’m sure they’re still around somewhere.” 

Zen was still stiff but he breathed in deeply, lowering his hands. He knew that Seven was right and that this wouldn’t help them. There were bigger things to concern themselves with at the moment and it’d be dumb to blame the wrong person. “You’re right, sorry. I got carried away there. I just promised that I would protect them.” 

Seven shook his head, “Yer’ lookin’ out for them, that’s enough. Don’t worry, we’ll figure this out, Zen.” 

You weren’t here at all, and that meant the worst for Unknown. A lot could happen between here and your home. He knew because that was how he met you.

You got lucky the first time. 

God, what if you got taken out the second time? 

That was when he met mint eyes, eyes that belonged to Jihyun Kim, and he knew that something wasn’t quite right. 

He narrowed his gaze and Jihyun stared at him for a long moment. Neither of them said them but it went without saying that there was tension between the two of them every time they were in the same room these days. Jihyun had seen you and he had let you leave the bar by yourself in the dead of night. 

It was his fault.

Unknown clenched and unclenched his fists. He knew better, he knew better than to start a brawl in daylight but you… you were special. There was something about you that sparked a light of salvation in his chest like the first time that he drank water after days of crawling in the dirt. “How long were they here?” 

“Twenty minutes, tops,” Jihyun told him, quietly. 

His jaw tightened, but he continued to ask his questions, “Did anything seem suspicious? Did you see anyone following them?” 

Jihyun didn’t answer right away. He knew more than he was letting on, then. “No. I wouldn’t have let them leave if that was the case after I saw you gave them something of yours, Sae— you know? I believe you gave them your...”

Something of… 

**_His fucking coat._ **

“Goddammit!” 

How could he be such a moron?! 

Dots were starting to connect one by one. 

His body was already trembling, and he moved without hesitation, gripping Jihyun by the collar and glowering at him for the longest moment. This was so stupid, he knew it was stupid, but if anyone or anything, hurt you—

Unknown growled, “I swear ta’ God, if they’ve gotten hurt ‘cause of ya’, I won’t have mercy in my heart anymore for ya’! Ya’ hear me?!” You could have heard a pin drop in that room. Jihyun started to apologize but Unknown just spoke over him again. “I’ve made myself fucking clear. Ya’ already failed me, how dare ya’ fail Cereus!” 

“They were headed south,” Jihyun said, voice strained but quiet enough that only the two of them could hear. “That’s all I know, Saeran. I would have kept them if I knew that someone was lurking around town. I didn’t see—” 

He knew where he had to start looking for you, now. Without wasting a second, he stormed out of the bar and hitched a ride back on Begonia. He could hear voices that were confused and surprised by what was going on, questions of who he was and what he had to do with you, but he didn't care nor was he going to wait up to figure it out. 

“Hey, who was that?” 

“Do you know him, Luciel?”

“Isn’t that the guy that came to see [Y/N]—”

There were a few blind spots near the edge of the town that he knew of that he needed to check. Alleys and dark corners that you would never walk into on your own, but made way for the trail markers that you would cross when you started to walk home. He was an idiot, for once in his life, he had made a damned mistake. 

He should’ve known better from the start. 

If you wore something of his, someone could mistake you for him. He never thought they would be active at night when they were all together and out of the ways of this town. Something wasn’t right, and it felt like a coordinated attack. This couldn’t be circumstance or sheet dumb luck, no, the Mayor didn’t operate without thinking.

His idiot goons? 

Maybe. 

It wasn’t adding up. None of it was adding up because he had accounted for everyone that worked for that man. He knew where they were, and he knew what they were meant to be doing that night. None of them should have been waiting around in town, and none of them should’ve noticed you or even mistaken you for him. 

Unknown found himself checking every nook and cranny of the town that he knew until he finally found himself just a ways off from the trail that you walked, an article of clothing left laying on the ground covered with dirt and blood. His stomach flipped and churned in protest as the more that he expected, the worse it looked. 

There was no doubt about it when Unknown started at the object in question. It was his coat that he had given to you. He had given it to you and in the heat of Seven distracting him, he had let you leave wearing it.

The only way for someone to have this jacket is for them to have got you underneath their grimy paws. 

“[Y/N]. little Cereus...”

He was going to give them hell for taking you.


End file.
